ASA Lux ™ is a procedure that uses the excimer laser for the correction of myopia (short-sightedness), hyperopia (far-sightedness), astigmatism, and in selected cases presbyopia, by modifying the corneal curvature.

This technique is used in cases where the corneal thickness is too thin and does not allow the use of a Femtolasik Lux® procedure. ASA stands for Advanced Surface Ablation. The ASA Lux ™ is always performed under topical anesthesia, instilling drops of anesthetic eye drops before the procedure. The operation is bilateral (i.e. performed on both eyes in a single session) and lasts a few minutes.

“To ablate” means “to remove”: the first step consists, in fact, in removing the most superficial and external layer of the cornea (the epithelium). To do this, Dr. Roberto Pinelli uses a hydroalcohol based solution that “softens” the cells of the corneal surface and facilitates their removal. This is why ASA Lux ™ clearly differs from the PRK technique, a technique involving postoperative pain. In fact, most patients after ASA Lux ™ report only some discomfort and sometimes photophobia, effects that in any case disappear within a few hours. After manually freeing the cornea from its external epithelium, the excimer laser can be used: the surgeon vaporizes the corneal tissue for a few seconds to correct the curvature of the cornea enough to eliminate the vision disorder.

The special feature of ASA Lux ™ resides in the third phase of the procedure. In fact, an accelerated osmotic transepithelial corneal cross-linking is performed, lasting a few seconds during which the synergistic action of riboflavin (vitamin B2) instilled through the ParaCel® eye drops, and UV-A rays, strengthens the bonds between the collagen fibers present in the corneal tissue. At the end of the procedure, sealed with this extra portion of photons, a soft contact lens is applied to allow the reconstitution of the removed epithelium. The epithelial reconstitution phase requires a few days, after which Dr. Pinelli removes the contact lens.