Shanghai hospital performs China's first 10-second SMILE surgery

Shanghai-based Eye and ENT Hospital of Fudan University successfully performed China's first 10-second Small Incision Lenticule Extraction (SMILE) Pro surgery on Tuesday, helping a myopia patient restore healthy vision, with good recovery, the hospital said on Wednesday.

Performed by a team led by professors Zhou Xingtao and Wang Xiaoying, the surgery utilized the latest VISUMAX 800 system, completing the procedure within 10 seconds, significantly faster than the conventional 23 to 27 seconds for a SMILE surgery.

Experts said this has unveiled a new era of faster, smarter and safer corneal refractive surgeries.

For the first surgery, the 600-degree myopia patient regained 0.8 vision within an hour and reached 1.0 vision the following day. Patients of the same first batch all gained 1.0 or above in eyesight after the operations, doctors said.

The upgraded surgery achieved a leap in the accuracy of myopia treatment, and the automated arm used in the surgical operation allows enhanced patient comfort without moving during the procedure, they said.

SMILE surgery uses a femtosecond laser to create a precise and smooth lenticule within the corneal stromal layer and then removes the lenticule through a 2 to 4-millimeter laser incision. The procedure is like making a pair of lenses on the cornea to achieve the purpose of myopia correction.

Since introducing femtosecond laser technology in 2008 and pioneering China's SMILE surgeries in 2010, the Shanghai Eye and ENT Hospital has performed over 260,000 such procedures, solidifying its position as the world's leading single center for myopia surgical operations.

Home to a SMILE and refractive surgery training center in the Asia-Pacific region, the medical institution has been sharing its expertise internationally, advancing surgical workflow and outcomes.

Fei Xinyao contributed to this story.