CLR Webinar

[00:00:00] Welcome everybody to our CLR webinar from the Laser Eye Center of Silicon Valley. My name is Sharif Madavi. I’m the Chief Experience Officer and I have along with me today Dr. Craig Bindi and Dr. Joseph Ling and the two of them are going to talk a lot about CLR. We’re going to talk about the differences between CLR and LASIK and what’s the recovery like.

[00:00:26] We’ll get into cost, we’ll get insurance, all these questions. Also with us is Renee Madhavi. Yes, by relation, my wife. She is a CLR patient who was treated by Dr. Ling, and she’s also, uh, one of our patient counselors who helps people understand the benefits of this procedure. So, So with that, I’m going to hand it right over to you, uh, Dr.

[00:00:50] Bindi and, um, just say, uh, first of all, let’s talk about custom lens replacement. And if you would just, uh, tell me what is CLR and, uh, how is it different from LASIK? Sure, sure. So, well, welcome everybody. First of all, thank you for taking time out of your busy day to, to learn about what we do every day here at the Laser Eye Center.

[00:01:10] And, um, today I think there, there are a lot of questions that, that Dr. Ling and I hear. All the time about CLR. So we’ll go over some of the most basic questions. What is CLR? And generally people have heard of LASIK. We’ll explain how it’s different from, from LASIK. So I think you’ll, you’ll learn a lot.

[00:01:26] And, um, for starters, think of just the, the, the problem that people come in to us trying to seek, to seek a correction for is. They need glasses every time they look at their cell phone menus, computers and desk work. And so the problem that we’re trying to fix is so people can just wake up and see, and they don’t have to deal with glasses for close.

[00:01:46] And, um, I’m sure a lot of people on this, on this webinar, they’ve noticed sometime in the forties and fifties and sixties, that’s when the near vision started to get worse. And so what CLR is, CLR, also known as custom lens replacement, CLR is a procedure that can fix. Distance vision and it can fix near vision, and we’ll be talking more about how it how it does it.

[00:02:07] And, um, maybe I’ll just differentiate a little bit from how it’s different from LASIK since most people. You probably know people who’ve had LASIK, or maybe even know people who’ve had LASIK at our office, and um, LASIK is a laser procedure, and it can fix the prescription nearsightedness or astigmatism, so you don’t need to wear prescription glasses or contacts, and it’s, it works amazingly well at helping people see 20 20 so they have great vision without glasses, but then as people get older, Their near vision starts to get worse because of a change where the lens in our eye gets less flexible and people start to need reading glasses and they notice their near vision is changing.

[00:02:45] And so CLR is a, is a procedure that we’ve been talking about and it, differently from LASIK, it can fix both distance vision and near vision. And that’s what we’re going to be talking about. Okay? And Dr. Bindi, would you just point out the difference between the front surface of the eye and the lens, these two anatomical structures on the screen here?

[00:03:02] Sure. So, if you can use your cursor, if you can just go to the cornea, the front part of the eye. Um, whenever I do laser vision correction, that’s a laser that uses laser light, it reshapes the front of the eye, the cornea. Um, LASIK, these are procedures that take about 15 minutes, they don’t hurt and by treating nearsightedness or astigmatism, by reshaping the cornea, we can get people out of needing prescription glasses or contacts.

[00:03:27] And then, um, Shreve, if you can move your cursor down to the lens. That’s a natural lens. That’s a human lens in the eye and that’s the, that’s really the age, the aging part of the eye. And as people move through their 40s and 50s, um, stage one, the lens gets less flexible and that’s when near vision gets worse.

[00:03:44] Um, in stage two, the lens gets a little bit yellow to discolored. And then more as people get older, the lens gets, it gets cloudy. It gets opaque and hard to see through. And that’s when we, that’s when you use the word cataract. Okay. That’s where not now I’m going to bring in Dr. Lang. Thanks so much, Dr.

[00:03:59] Bindi, uh, Dr. Joseph Lang. Let’s talk a little bit now about what’s going on with the lens with now with this side view going on. And just to remind everyone, uh, if you have a question, use the Q and a button on your screen, write your question in. We’ll answer as many as we can on this webinar. But if we can’t answer your question specifically, we will be following up with you.

[00:04:20] We’ll have a transcription and we’ll be following up with you, so everyone will get their questions answered, uh, here in the next few days, if not today. Dr. Ling, you need to unmute, Joe. Hi. There you go. So, Dr. Bindi summarized that beautifully. So, You know, LASIK and CR both addresses, uh, both address the need for glasses, however, they do it differently.

[00:04:46] For LASIK, for one, it only treats the cornea, which is the non aging component of the eye. So, typically, if you don’t have any age related issues, like needing reading glasses, progressive, or even developing cataracts, LASIK is a fantastic option for you to complement your, your lens, which is still in good condition.

[00:05:06] However, typically, past the age of 45, your lens, internal lens structure, starts to degenerate. And that degeneration process leads to the need for reading glasses, progressive, and eventual development of cataracts. So LASIK doesn’t quite address the aging component, but it can address the need for glasses, All while CLR can address both the focus of the eye and the aging component.

[00:05:34] So what Dr. Ling, I’m sorry. I put on a little visual here. Can you just explain what’s going on with the lens here? Yeah, so Sharif has brought up a little video showing this lens kind of expanding and contracting. That’s the actual focusing mechanism that, uh, we all enjoy before we turn, uh, 45, 50 and onwards.

[00:05:55] So before then, uh, you’re able to see far and near, you know, albeit whether it’s with glasses or a single focus, glasses, contact lenses, or after a laser vision correction. But after 45, the aging of the lens really starts to take off. And you can see that here on the left hand side, we have a normal lens focused light, nice, sharply.

[00:06:16] And then you have that aging lens. Not only does it not focus well anymore, it starts to scatter the light. That’s why nighttime driving may become more difficult as we age. And cataract starts to develop. So, custom lens replacement is a procedure that treats both the aging component of the eye as well as the need for glasses.

[00:06:36] And the critical part is to understand that our eyes do age. And luckily for all of us, the aging really happens in a very specific anatomy within our eye. That’s the lens. And we are really good at exchanging that lens out for a new synthetic lens. The new synthetic lens can then restore the focus of the eye, really sharpen up the focus, uh, so that we can use many different strategies to achieve both far and near vision.

[00:07:07] Dr. Ling, um, if someone has CLR, would they still need to have cataract surgery in the future? No, so CLR, custom lens replacement, is replacing that lens, which ultimately becomes a cataract. So, once that natural lens, the aging lens, has been replaced, there’s nothing to develop a cataract from. And if you already have a cataract, you’re, you’re typically already a great candidate for lens replacement then, because not only do you Have you gone past the age of, uh, the time of aging of the lens, you have basically developed cataract, which is actually a disease within the lens.

[00:07:43] So we’ll still do lens replacement, get rid of the cataract, and then be able to see through a new synthetic lens. That’s great. Dr. Bindi, talk about, um, where we do these procedures. I’ll bring up a couple, a slide here with some images, but I’d like you to kind of talk about what we do here in our facility.

[00:08:00] Okay. Okay, well, um, you’re showing some pictures. So, uh, the picture on the left, that’s, um, that’s where we do laser vision correction. Um, so that has our lasers for, uh, for laser vision correction on the right. That’s where Dr. Ling does his CLR procedures. Um, those are both in our office. So, so when people do, um, LASIK, they’ve gotten accustomed to, they walk into our office.

[00:08:24] They’re at our office for maybe an hour, hour and 10 minutes. Um, the procedure’s done in the office. With the same staff that they’ve known during their exam, they get it right home and they go back to their normal life the next day and CLR now has become pretty much a LASIK experience. It also takes about 15, 20 minutes to do CLR.

[00:08:42] Um, it doesn’t hurt. It’s an overnight recovery. And we do see people the next day for, for a checkup, just for follow up, kind of like LASIK, but they’re all done in our office. We do both eyes in the same day. People get nervous about these procedures, I should say. So we do give, um, different versions of sedation.

[00:09:00] Usually pilavalium is all that it takes. Um, and the anesthesia is numbing eyedrop anesthesia. So we don’t need to do IVs. There’s no injections. Um, it’s, it’s comfortable to go through. Right. And, Bindi, can, can someone have CLR if they had LASIK with you in the past? Could they have, you know, 20 years ago, could they have CLR today?

[00:09:23] For sure. So, um, well, it depends on the scenario. So, some patients, let’s say I did LASIK on somebody 20 25 years ago, and their vision changed a little bit. Sometimes doing a laser re treatment is quite appropriate, actually. Um, but it depends on the clinical scenario. There are other scenarios where maybe somebody, Their lens is changing.

[00:09:41] The lenses is getting a little bit cloudy, a little bit yellow, and their near vision is getting worse. And then it might be more appropriate to do CLR. And so that’s, that’s a pretty common scenario for us since we’ve seen people, we’ve done LASIK on over a hundred thousand people over the years. You know, they, they might come back and say, they’re looking for a way to get their vision fixed.

[00:10:00] And maybe CLR is more appropriate than a laser treatment. Uh, especially if someone’s, uh, in their late fifties or sixties, that tends to be the treatment choice. Got it. Got it. Dr. Ling, would you just talk a little bit about this concept of a dysfunctional lens, right? You’ve mentioned it before, but, but how does this progress over time and get worse?

[00:10:19] Yeah, so let’s, let’s talk about the, the progression of the age related changes that our lens go through. So when we’re born, we have this nice flexible lens that we We showed you with a video where that can really refocus the image for you so you can see far and near. So that’s, that’s a great natural thing we all have, uh, in our youth.

[00:10:41] And then at 40, our lens doesn’t stay that flexible. It starts hardening up just through, you know, aging, oxidative stress, and just, you know, same thing we get, you know, wrinkle on our skin and whites in our hair, our lens get a little stiffer. Therefore, it doesn’t flex as well, doesn’t refocus. And we call that Dysfunctional lens syndrome, that’s the term.

[00:11:04] There wasn’t a name for this, it just, you know, people just thought, well, this is how our eyes age, but we identified that as coming from the lens, and dysfunctional lens syndrome is the term. And it’s where this lens really starts to harden up. And actually starts to produce cloudiness within this lens.

[00:11:19] And when enough cloudiness has accumulated within this lens, we call it a cataract. So typically, symptomatic dysfunctional lens syndrome starts in our 40s. We notice that we can’t see up close as much. We may need to transition to readers. Or progressive bifocals. And you feel like your vision is changing much more rapidly year over year.

[00:11:39] You’re extending, you’re increasing the prescription you need in those readers every three years or so. That’s very typical. Until you feel like even through those glasses you don’t see as well because that lens has gotten cloudy. So that cloudiness typically onset in your late 50s and then it just gets cloudier and cloudier.

[00:11:59] Until, uh, you could wait until, you know, it becomes medically necessary for you to get a cataract surgery. Um, but the process of getting there typically is not pleasant. You’re, you know, seen, uh, poorly. You’re stopping, uh, certain activities because of the poor sight. You stop driving at nighttime. And finally, they’re saying, okay, we can’t, you know, give you your driver’s license back.

[00:12:22] Then most people would say, oh, it’s time. And they’re 80 years old by then. So that’s a reactive approach. Um, what custom lens replacement is, is more of a proactive approach. Uh, you already experienced changes to your vision from aging. You could get this procedure done that corrects your vision. It stabilizes your vision.

[00:12:41] Vision wouldn’t change anymore after a lens replacement. I don’t think we mentioned that yet. This, the effect of a custom lens replacement will last you the rest of your life. As well as either treating any current or preventing any future cataracts. So that’s a proactive approach to addressing, uh, the aging of our eyes.

[00:13:00] Dr. Lin, to put this, to put this all in perspective, let’s, uh, I’m going to bring up the slide showing different lens designs and just, you know, they can see the size here. Just talk a little bit about the technology that’s used in this procedure. So what allows us to do this proactively is just how good we are today at doing custom lens replacement, um, which is based off of cataract surgery techniques.

[00:13:22] So it’s not a, not a brand new procedure no one has ever heard of. It is. essentially based off cataract surgery technique and utilizing a lot of these intraocular lenses we use. surgery. However, in lens replacement, custom lens replacement, we use high end premium lenses as well as our experience helping people see without glasses through this procedure.

[00:13:45] There are many different types and there’s no one size fit all. That’s why it’s called custom. Each individual needs to come in and see what their current conditions are to see how their eyes respond to light. We have the most advanced diagnostic equipment for doing these types of procedures, and we can evaluate each individual to see which type of lenses work well for you.

[00:14:08] And I use all premium lenses. Uh, we just got to see which one is right for you. Dr. Bindi, uh, Do patients feel any pain during the CLR procedure? People don’t feel pain. I was saying before, they, people tend to be anxious before, so I feel like there’s pregame jitters and that’s where the Valium comes in handy.

[00:14:28] Um, during the, I think most people during the procedure feel very little, maybe a little bit of pressure at most. Um, there’s a device that keeps people from blinking. People often ask me questions, what if they blink during the surgery? But, uh, a comfortable device keeps people from closing their eyes and, um, pain’s not really a part of the process as much as maybe pregame, uh, jitters and anxiety.

[00:14:49] And then afterward, it’s, I mean, it’s generally irritated and dry and scratchy for most of the day of the surgery. Um, the next day people feel comfortable. Yeah, the recovery process is quite, Uh, straightforward. It’s, it’s a 10 15 minute procedure, painless. You’re just looking towards a bright light. You don’t see anything scary.

[00:15:09] You’re not watching your own procedure. Uh, you just see a beautiful light show, was what patient had described to me. Uh, and they’re comfortable enough. Like today, I just came out of the procedure this morning. You know, we were having conversations during that 10 minutes. Talking about weathers and kids and whatnot.

[00:15:24] And once you’re done, we’re not patching your eyes up. You get a pair of sunglasses and you get to walk out of here. Vision will be cloudy for most of the day. And I ask everyone to take a nap. That’s the best thing you can do. Eyes may feel a little scratchy, may feel like a little gritty and then just go home and nap, go to bed early.

[00:15:43] Most people within 24 hours are seeing dramatically better and they’re feeling much better, less of that grittiness and some people are driving the next day. We don’t, uh, advise, we don’t allow anyone to drive themselves in and back home on the day of their procedure. But the following day, there’s a likelihood that you can’t without your glasses.

[00:16:04] Dr. Ling, I think these photos on the screen are from a patient you treated this morning, correct? This morning, yeah. Yeah, I took a photo with this patient here who had bilateral lens replacement. She did great. It had a little bit of cataract as well, you know, that was taken care of. So look forward to seeing her tomorrow.

[00:16:20] We have the benefit of having one of your patients from a little while ago on the line with us today. Renee, if you’d unmute, we just, uh, we’d, we’d appreciate, I think everyone would appreciate if you just kind of share your experience as a CLR patient. Are you having trouble with the unmute button?

[00:16:39] Hopefully you can. Let’s see. You’re able to do that. No, you’re not able to do that. Okay, so we will, uh, we’ll pause. Let’s see if we can work on. Let’s see if we can work on that. Dr. Ling, there have been a lot of questions that have come in and just one of them, a few of them have been around monovision.

[00:16:59] People who have, they know this term monovision. What is it that you’re doing that’s different from traditional monovision?

[00:17:08] Oh, Joe, let’s. Yeah, so we do have a few strategies to implement for lens replacement. Something similar to monovision is a common strategy that we use, except we call it blended vision. So, there are different strategies because in some ways there are still limitations to custom lens replacement. We cannot turn your eyes back to a 20 year old eye.

[00:17:32] We just don’t have the technology at this time point to do that. But there are the next best thing to improve you from where you currently stand today, for sure. So, monovision is a, it’s a strategy where you typically do it with contact. And you can do it with LASIK too, where one eye is fully focused for distance.

[00:17:53] And then the other eye is focused for extreme near, and this typically worked quite well. Uh, it takes the brain, uh, a few weeks to adapt to it. And then you get that far and near vision. We do something similar called blended vision with lens replacement. We don’t call it full monovision because the amount of offset for the near eye is much less.

[00:18:15] Because the lens we use for CLR, these IOLs, these Interactive Lenses, have an extended range of focus. Unlike a, a, a, an aging eye, or Dysfunctional Lens Syndrome. So when you get this lens, which is targeted for intermediate and near, the difference between your distance eye and your intermediate and near eye is much less.

[00:18:38] Instead of a full monovision. So people tolerate this very well. And your brain will, uh, basically adjust for this difference between the two eyes to where it feels like you’re looking at far and near with the, with both eyes. Even though one may be doing a little bit more heavy lifting for the distance of driving and one may be more for computer and your phone.

[00:19:01] But the individual, it feels very natural. They can do sports. They can do, uh, reading, they can do computer, they can drive with this, so that’s a, uh, a great strategy that we call blended vision, uh, which may be similar. If you’re, if you’re familiar with monovision, then typically you’re a great candidate for blended vision because it’s just a step up.

[00:19:24] from what you’ve been used to. There are other strategies as well. We have multifocal lenses, which can allow someone to see far, intermediate, and near. There are some side effects that goes along with that lens, so we evaluate each individual to see if that side effect would be more pronounced in you, or much less, and perhaps a good option for that individual.

[00:19:46] So we need to meet each person, do a full exam in order to see what strategy We can employ for you to get you out of progressive and readers. And, and Joe, just to build on that, I can see some questions coming in about a stigmatism and that’s, that’s always been a question that, that we get, uh, whether it’s with a laser vision correction patient or a CLR patient.

[00:20:07] I think a lot of people come in with, uh, with the notion that. They can’t do a procedure because they have astigmatism, which is now a very straightforward routine thing to fix with a laser. Um, for over 20 years we’ve been fixing astigmatism with, with laser vision correction and that’s, that’s uh, commonplace.

[00:20:25] And then Joe, can you just talk about, Dr. Ling, can you just talk about, um, how that comes into play when you’re doing CLR? Yeah, so lens replacement also corrects for astigmatism. So when we get you out of glasses, uh, that includes astigmatism, because astigmatism, you need to wear glasses to correct for. So, these lenses come in different, uh, powers, as well as different astigmatism correction level.

[00:20:49] So if your eyes, uh, require astigmatism correction, we will use a lens, That will essentially counteract the astigmatism that your eye, uh, naturally has.

[00:21:02] We now have Rene, I believe, able to, uh, share a little experience with us. So, Rene, you know, you were a CLR patient a little over a year ago. Uh, what was life like before? What’s life like been since? I’d love to tell you. I started out like many of you wearing readers about 10 years ago. They kind of evolved into wearing them all around and then I ended up wearing the progressives bifocals.

[00:21:25] It just kind of. I needed glasses for everything I did and I did not believe I was a candidate for CLR because I had not been a candidate for LASIK and uh, was delighted to find out that I was. I had the procedure, it was, um, you know, went home. rested my eyes for the afternoon, woke up, was afraid to open my eyes because I was afraid it didn’t work.

[00:21:49] And I, uh, the tears started at that point. Um, I have been about a year and a half without wearing glasses for basically anything. I leave my house every day without them, whether I’m playing tennis or, uh, sitting in front of the computer all day or, or talking with people, reading my phone, I’m using glasses for nothing.

[00:22:07] So, uh, it’s been a life changing experience for me. And it’s one of the reasons it’s worth it. One of my favorite things to talk about. Great. Thank you. And Renee is one of our counselors, and she specializes in helping people understand CLR. Uh, Dr. Ling, I’m getting a lot of questions about, is this permanent?

[00:22:25] Will this last my life? You know, the rest of my life, this kind of thing. Can you talk about, and even one here, uh, is it pretty much a guarantee that I have great long and near vision? You know, so kind of talk, talk through these issues, please. I have to mention a little bit about the, the effect of this procedure.

[00:22:43] Yes, after this procedure is done, you can expect your vision to basically not change much anymore. The aging component of the eye really is in the lens itself. Rest of the eyes doesn’t really change much throughout one’s entire life. So, by replacing that aging component, the natural lens, Becoming a dysfunctional lens and eventually a cataract with a new synthetic lens that does not change and will last you the rest of your life, your vision will be extremely stable and the result of this procedure will be lifelong.

[00:23:16] In terms of the, the, the ability to see far and near, again, that talks about strategy of how we employ this for each individual. We can demonstrate some of these things in the office and each person can make a decision for themselves whether this will allow them to basically not need glasses for everything.

[00:23:33] I mean, that’s what was the case for Renee and it was the case for pretty much most of our patients. It really depends on each person’s lifestyle, the demand on their vision, because there are in some ways some compromises here and there, you know, blended vision by its own very concept is some form of compromise.

[00:23:52] However, it’s a favorable compromise that really eliminates. nearly all glasses dependencies. So for each person, uh, whether they’re an airline pilot or someone who likes to sew and do crossword puzzles all day, someone who still works in the office, there’s a strategy that we can come up with you, whether it is both eyes for distance for the sharpest possible distance And be okay with wearing reading glasses.

[00:24:16] That’s could be by itself a very successful strategy for someone really want just the sharpest at baseline to someone who really, uh, wants to more flexibility, be able to do everything without glasses. Then they may employ some form of blended vision or multifocal lens technology. It really, uh, boils down to coming and seeing if you’re a good candidate.

[00:24:36] Um, if you’re too good for lens replacement or too young, or, you know, you’re just wanting to learn, we’ll let you know where we are. We pride ourselves in offering. Conservative advice with truly effective technologies. So, if you have issues, then there may be a chance that we can help you. Or if not, we may tell you, hey, just wait a few more years.

[00:24:55] Because again, at some point, everyone becomes a candidate for lens replacement. Because there’s no stopping that aging factor from happening for all of us. And that’s, that’s a good point, um, Joe. I think, Dr. Ling, as a lot of people, uh, learn about these technologies on webinar, we can explain a lot of things, but, um, but still come into our office for an actual consultation, there’s a lot of measurements that we take, uh, what we call our advanced vision analysis, that’s where we, we gather about a million data points of information.

[00:25:26] About your prescription, all your eye measurements, the health of your eyes. And that’s really how we can see if it is this a safe option for you or not. And it works out maybe about 80 percent of the time, everything lines up and we’ll say, yes, we can definitely. It’s realistic to get you out of glasses.

[00:25:40] It might be a laser treatment like LASIK or SMILE LASIK. It might be CLR. And then about 20 percent of the time we’ll say it’s probably just better to it’s preferable to not do a procedure right now or maybe come back in a few years. Um, it depends on the measurements and that’s that’s where our advice comes in.

[00:25:54] So I always encourage people before they feel like they have to make a decision. Is it something they want to do or not? They might want to find out if they’re an ideal candidate. We can guide them along to see what’s appropriate for them. Yes. Yes. Dr. Ling, there are a number of the questions coming in where people are talking about a particular Uh, eye disease that you might have, macular degeneration, glaucoma, or, uh, systemic diseases like diabetes.

[00:26:15] Where, what, how does that factor into your ability to do CLR? It certainly factors in, into one’s candidacy. Lens replacement corrects for a very specific, uh, though very prevalent issue with all of our eyes, which is age related. But it isn’t correct for diseases you may already have, macular degeneration being one, diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma.

[00:26:39] Those are a separate issue and should lens replacement will not address directly. So it really depends on how severe your eye condition, uh, the diseases you may already have. Uh, maybe, and to see how much impact that has on your vision and the potential vision you’ll have after lens replacement. So definitely share the, the, the history of your eyes when you do come in for an eye exam, so that we can see and evaluate whether lens replacement makes sense for you, and whether you will get the most benefit out of it, uh, despite the condition you may have.

[00:27:18] And we have a question from a police officer. Hey, Mike, I’m police officer. My vision is critical. Have you done this with other officers? And Dr. Ling, we were talking about this the other day about people who are, uh, In our enforces as well as sharpshooters. Talk about some of your experience. I mean, I have done this pretty on nearly pretty much every profession imaginable.

[00:27:39] Um, you know, actually, this morning, there was a police officer, uh, the idea lens replacement on we did a blended vision set up for him. And he talks about, well, I do these nighttime shootings. Um, you know, right now he’s wearing progresses for everything. And, um, Blended vision we demonstrated to him. His distance vision will be dramatically improved while still being able to bring up say his cell phone or anything up close and be able to read it and Demonstrating it to him because we could demo it in the office to give him some idea of what it’ll be You know, he was very pleased with it You know, I’ve done this on pilots.

[00:28:15] I’ve done these on, uh, uh, folks in the military. A gentleman recently to mine was a helicopter machine gunner. And so there are many different types of occupation that we, uh, work with. And we talk about the needs of those occupation. And to see, you know, what are the, the best way to optimize what each individual is looking for.

[00:28:39] So, yes, I don’t, I don’t think there’s any profession in which you wouldn’t be a good candidate for. Because again, for lens replacement, we’re treating the aging of the eyes. Which takes away your ability to do certain jobs well because of the loss of focus and we restore that so typically if We’ll see that you’re a good candidate because it will restore the focus in which you need to do your job better at Dr.

[00:29:05] Benny, do you see any other questions that you would want us to address? I, a few of the ones you’ve already asked about, but people keep asking about costs as well. So Sharif, do you want to go over that? Sure. Yes. Uh, the cost for custom lens replacement, it’s more expensive than LASIK because there’s a lot more involved in terms of us doing it.

[00:29:24] Uh, we charge 6, 950 per eye. Uh, and we also do offer financing. We have several different firms who help us with that. Um, it could be as no interest over 24 months, it’s literally 24 equal payments or longer period of time with interest, but a lower monthly payment. And our goal is to make it affordable, as affordable as we can for everyone.

[00:29:45] And by doing it in our own office, we do save patients on a lot of the costs they would have, they would incur if they were to do this in a surgery center or in a hospital environment. So we, uh, we’re pleased with that. It’s also far more convenient. Dr. Ling talk about, well, in a minute, I’ll have you talk about, uh, how you do the procedures.

[00:30:05] But, um, uh, there’s another question I see about insurance. You know, if someone has insurance now, we don’t accept insurance as a practice. We don’t. So patients pay us directly. But if someone, if Dr. Ling and his evaluation determines that someone actually has what’s called a medically necessary cataract, We can refer you to a third party reimbursement specialist who will actually work directly with your insurance provider to get you reimbursement after the fact.

[00:30:29] So that is possible, but, but again, we as a practice have not, um, accepted insurance and, uh, don’t have any plans to directly. It’s not just as a practice that we decided not to take insurance. We would love to take insurance. However, Uh, the medical industry as a whole has viewed custom lens replacement and any sort of IOL technology.

[00:30:51] Those lenses that we talked about, the premium ones, those are all considered elective, uh, procedures. So just like LASIK, um, insurance does not cover these. So what we can do, like Charisse said, is if I, if, if I evaluate you and I say, Hey, there’s actually a symptom cataract here. We will, uh, help you to see if we can utilize your, your insurance to see if the third party can get reimbursement for it.

[00:31:17] But all the technology, uh, that we utilize here are considered premium, therefore not covered by insurance. And, um, and that’s the case for anywhere that you may go. Dr. Ling, I know Dr. Bindi covered this a little earlier, but could you briefly touch on just risks and side effects because those questions come up.

[00:31:36] Just a little summary there, please. So, custom lens replacement. is a very safe and predictable, reliable procedure. In part, it’s because we’ve been doing this for a very long time. It is based off of cataract surgery technique, in which it is the most commonly done surgery in the world. So, we have 60 years of data to look at how this procedure evolved, has improved year over year, to a point where custom lens replacement now is a very common procedure.

[00:32:10] Um, what we do here is, is one of the, we’re one of the most specialized places that do these procedures. Um, we are specially trained, we’re hyper focused on doing lens replacement, in part just by my training, I’m a refractive surgeon, uh, that also specializes in lens based procedures through a fellowship that I did.

[00:32:34] So, with our experience, our staffing, Uh, the safety of this procedure is extremely high. Just base, if you just look at cataract surgery in itself, and then you just take that to another level of how we perform it. So the outcome is very predictable. Uh, and of course, every surgery has risks, but if you look at cataract surgery and lens replacement, that’s probably among one of the lowest risk procedure you can ever undergo.

[00:33:01] And Dr. Liang, I was also going to add to that, if the technique for cataract surgery and CLR, that’s been refined over the years, but also just the evolution of the lenses, you talked a little bit about the lenses, but can you talk a little bit about the light adjustable lens? So, light adjustable lens is just one of the many tools that I have at my disposal, uh, among other lenses.

[00:33:24] Uh, the light adjustable lens is a very unique one that we offer, one of the few that offer it, uh, across the nation. It is especially good for an individual who may have had previous eye surgery like LASIK, PRK. Or RK, Radial Keratotomy, and when that patient has those procedures done, we can still do lens replace for them because the aging component of the eye isn’t, wasn’t treated by, by laser vision correction.

[00:33:53] So when we do these procedures, we can use special lenses to match each individual’s, uh, history and previous surgeries, and light adjustable is very good at that. This lens has the ability to be altered even after your surgery, which is a very powerful tool. Some things we can’t control for include the natural healing of the eye.

[00:34:13] How it interacts with previous eye surgery. So, after lens replacement, a patient with a light adjustable lens will see the improvement and they’ll heal for about a month. And then at one month, once we deem that the vision has stabilized, we see where it is. The distance vision, maybe we can fine tune it even more, make it a little sharper as well.

[00:34:31] Or the reading, we can tune it in. All we need to do is shine a light onto that light adjustable lens and it’ll incorporate those changes. It’s a, it’s an amazing technology that we offer here at the Laser Eye Center. And, you know, follow up question just on that on that technology. We don’t distinguish.

[00:34:48] Currently, we don’t charge differently for the different lens we use. It’s one. When you’re paying us, you’re paying one single fee. It includes the surgery includes all the before and after care. It includes the prescription medications that are that are standard for part of the recovery process. We just think that makes it simpler and easier for patients to understand, and we don’t want to confuse people.

[00:35:06] You know, Dr Bindi, um, uh, you’ve been here. For so many years and you know, we have got a 25 plus year tradition at Laser Eye Center and we know we’re going to be around for the next 25 and probably well long after that. But why do people, why have patients chosen Laser Eye Center over the years? Why do they come to us?

[00:35:27] Well, I think most people they’ve they’ve heard about us in the community for the last 25 years And if there are our people all over this this community that have had their surgery here And I think it’s a lot of word of mouth referral and I think they’ve grown to learn we take good care of people We’re conservative.

[00:35:42] We a lot of people we say to not do it. In fact, it’s been I’ve been entertained. I’m watching A lot of the people in the audience, they’re, they’re chiming in saying, Dr. Bindi, you did my LASIK 18 years ago, another one 16, another one 21 years ago. That was actually the reason why I asked that question about the light adjustable lens, because a lot of those patients who did surgery a long time ago, the light adjustable lens might be the treatment.

[00:36:04] I was referring to those people who are asking about that. It’s great, great that you guys are back here, back at the Laser Eye Center as our patients are chiming in. And, um, no, I love working here. I think we’re blessed that we have great technology and we have a great, great, um, great team of people that are, that are doing this.

[00:36:22] Yeah, that’s what patients tell us, is that they feel warm, they feel welcomed, and that was our, that’s our goal, uh, every step along the way. Um, you know, we could probably answer questions for a lot longer this afternoon, but we want to respect everyone’s time. Here’s what we do. If your question didn’t get answered today, you can simply email it.

[00:36:39] You can email it to me, ’cause you, you received an email from me, or you could send it to clr@twentytwentyeyesight.com and you’ll get an answer from Renee who handles all those questions. Um, all of you on this webinar are going to get an email with a link to it. So if you want to go back and re-watch it.

[00:36:56] You want to share it with your family or friends. That’s you’re welcome to do so. And we’ll be following up with you, uh, over the next couple weeks, just to see if we can answer other questions and invite you to come for a consultation. We do not charge for this consultation. We don’t want to have that as a barrier.

[00:37:11] And as Dr Bindi said, this advanced vision analysis is, uh, is extremely sophisticated. Um, and this particular suite of exams of tests that we use in the equipment actually measures over 1, 000, 000 data points of your eye. And this is data that Dr. Bindi and Dr. Ling and our other doctors need to be able to assess if you’re a good candidate or not.

[00:37:30] So with that, I just want to say thank you to everyone who joined today and for being with us. Thank you, Dr. Bindi. Thank you, Dr. Ling for your commentary. Thank you for Renee for answering questions in real time and sharing your experience. We’re here for you, so please feel free to call us. You see the number there on the screen.

[00:37:47] Visit our website or send us an email and we’ll do everything we can to help you. Have a great day. Thank you Thank you everyone

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