Comparing the Bausch & Lomb 217z and z100 (Zyoptix) lasers

My wife is considering getting lasik eye surgery and I'm doing a
handful of research to figure out all the risks, etc. However, one
thing that I'm having a real hard time finding information on is the
actual differences between the two lasers that are avaialbe to us.
Both are made by Bausch and Lomb, one is the 217z and the other is
the
z100 (full name apparently is 217z100) also called Zyoptix. Some of
the differences are easy to understand, however, there's a few items
I
would like to find or have explained. First, does anyone know the
optical zone and blend zone that each laser is capable of? Second
how
exactly does the z100 (Zyoptix) laser accomplish its "tissue sparing"
capability? In other words, exactly what does it do differently from
the 217z that allows it to spare tissue?

Also one thing that really confuses me is the fact that the z100
(Zyoptix) is advertised as being able to work on more of your eye
(larger optical and/or blend zones) and therefore reduce the chances
of higher order abberations, however, everything I have read so far
shows that if you increase the optical/blend zones you also have to
remove more tissue, so how can the new z100 laser have a bigger
optical/blend zone while at the same time removing less tissue than
the 217z? Or is the tissue sparing simply refering to the fact that
it would remove less tissue than other brands of lasers working with
the same optical/blend zone sizes?


Btw, I've left messages both with the office where we are considering
getting this done and with Bausch and Lomb directly, however, the
only
person who everyone seems to say can actually answer these questions
is always travelling and I haven't been able to reach him.


Thanks for any input,
Harry

 

[... major snip ...]

[... major snip ..]

Sales blurb - hardly objective.

 

First, does anyone know the

http://www.usaeyes.org/faq/subjects/devices.htm

I understood the z100 to be just a later version of the 217z with improved
firmware, but perhaps there are hardware changes also.

Second

The algorithms involved are improved.

There would be less tissue removed than the previous version simply because
of the better algorithms employed.

Hope that helps.

Regards
Gary