In 2017, SCHWIND eye-tech-solutions is celebrating its 25th eye laser anniversary. The company is one of the pioneers of refractive surgery. Founded in 1958 and initially established as a complete provider for ophthalmologists, 1992 saw SCHWIND progress to a new business area: the development, production and sale of eye lasers for correcting visual defects. This sector has now been its key focus since 1999. In the spring of 1992, SCHWIND made its first delivery - a SCHWIND KERATOM to South Korea. and, in March 2017, its 1,500th laser, an AMARIS 1050RS, was installed in Vietnam.
Innovations from the start
The first generation of broad beam laser was designed to correct myopia and astigmatism. In 1994, this was followed by the KERATOM II, the first eye laser in the world to be fitted with a passive eye tracker as standard. In 1996, SCHWIND launched the KERATOM F with fractal masks, which led to a significant advance in the correction of hyperopia. In 1998, this was followed by the KERATOM MULTISCAN with active eye tracking, which was also capable of correcting mixed astigmatism. From 2001 onwards, the SCHWIND ESIRIS excimer laser with its 200 Hz repetition rate, 0.8 mm beam size and 300 Hz (subsequently 330 Hz) eye tracking was to become a hot topic in the world of refractive surgery. The innovations of this laser generation include the development of aspheric ablation profiles and the unique corneal wavefront. The introduction of corneal thickness measurements (online pachymetry) as standard – a decisive safety factor in laser treatment – also saw ESIRIS make headlines as a pioneer.
Milestones with SCHWIND AMARIS
Since its launch in 2007, the "TotalTech" excimer laser generation SCHWIND AMARIS has continued set pulses racing on the market, and is now firmly established as one of the leading eye laser technologies. The product family was expanded and is now available in three versions – with a 1,050 Hz repetition rate and 7D eye tracking, a 750 Hz pulse rate and 6D eye tracking, and a 500 Hz pulse rate and 5D eye tracking. As well as higher repetition rates and additional eye tracking dimensions, AMARIS technology has paved the way to success with numerous innovative milestones. These include the latest PresbyMAX versions for the correction of presbyopia, corneal cross-linking, refractive neutral PTK and the surface treatment SmartSurfACE , which combines the benefits of transepithelial PRK and SmartPulse technology. The SCHWIND mission for 25 years: throughout the life cycle of the product, we work in close collaboration with users to ensure that each laser generation iscontinually optimised and always state-of-the-art. In 2008 and 2009, the company received five awards for the innovative strength of its SCHWIND AMARIS technology. "For 25 years, SCHWIND lasers have been synonymous with the highest quality. And it remains our key aim for the future to continue setting new benchmarks for technology and treatment standards in the field of refractive surgery. The key to our success is based on our ability to identify and meet the demands of the market", said CEO Rolf Schwind.