It's the big and expensive machine from America that promises to take the human factor out of cataract surgery in Canberra.
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The capital's first procedures using on the eye condition using the new "bladeless" technique were performed at Barton's Capital Day Surgery on Friday.
The men behind the machine say local cataract sufferers now have a genuine alternative to scalpel-based surgery for the condition, the most common cause of blindness.
The bosses of PersonalEyes Canberra Dr Simon McRedie and Dean Powrie say the $600,000 Alcon LensX machine imported from the US is already causing excitement in the city's medical circles.
Mr Powrie said the new technique called femtosecond, was a huge advance on existing surgical procedures to remove cataracts.
"People have had cataract surgery using a technique that involves using a blade to create a wound in the eye and then the surgeon uses the skill of his hand to create a little opening in the lens," he said.
"They use the ultrasound to break up and suck out the lens and then they put an artificial lens back into the eye.
"Femtosecond is bladeless cataract surgery, so instead of using the skill of the surgeon's hand to make the incision into the cornea, and an ultrasound to break up the cataract, it's all done with a laser."
With a typical gap fee of about $950, the procedure is not cheap but according to Mr Powrie, it is easy.
"From a patient's perspective, they see better, faster," he said.
"Patients don't want to go to hospital if they can possibly avoid it, if they can walk in and walk out of a low-stress environment in an accredited facility, then they really appreciate that.
"They can have laser cataract surgery today and in a few hours they have functional vision, they can be back at work tomorrow, that's the advantage.
"The control and the precision and the patient safety aspect is enhanced with the control and the precision of this procedure."
The men from PersonalEyes say that Canberra is now at the cutting edge of cataract procedures in Australia.
"It really is technology that is rolling out around the world and Canberra is an early adopter," Mr Powrie said.
"I don't believe there is a machine in Brisbane yet, for example, this is a very exciting advancement in cataract surgery.
