A legally blind woman from Portugal, Patrícia Gonçalves, regained her vision after undergoing AI-powered laser treatment, Lasik surgery.
According to Telegraph, Gonçalves became the first ever patient in the UK who has successfully received Lasik surgery.
The 31-year-old received £6,500 AI-powered surgery on Thursday, November 7, 2024, at Focus Clinics in London by chief eye surgeon Mr David Allamby.
Allamby told The Telegraph, “She has worn glasses since five years old, is legally blind without glasses, and cannot see the huge ‘E’ letter at the top of the eye test chart.”
“Her best vision pre-op was worse than 20/200 and with glasses was just 20/20. Today, she can see 20/16, so better than 20/20, and has gained one more line down the test chart,” he continued.
Notably, 20/20 is the standard for good and healthy eyesight. If a person has 20/20 eyesight, they can see objects clearly from 20 feet away.
Allamby explained, “If you look at a point of light, the image on the retina should also be a point. But it never is because all eyes, cameras, telescopes, etc. All have optical aberrations, particularly from the outer lens. The twin is ‘operated on’ thousands of times until the PSF is shrunk as small as possible. That is then given to the patient during Lasik.”
Gonçalves said ahead of her procedure, “Having astigmatism, I’ve never been able to wear contact lenses comfortably, and my night vision isn’t great. I’m excited to get ray-tracing eye surgery and look forward to experiencing the results firsthand.”
Moreover, Eyevatar is a technology that scans an eye and collects data in just ten minutes. The computer then mimics around 2,000 lasers to find the best treatment for the eye. China and Australia have been using technology way before the UK.
