Dr. Rupal Shah M.S

Group Medical Director-Centre for Sight-New Vision Laser Centers, Vadodara, India

1 article

Dr. Rupal Shah (http://drrupalshahlasik.com) is an Indian Eye Surgeon who specializes in Laser Refractive Surgery and Cataract Surgery. She is one of the pioneers of Laser Refractive Surgery, being amongst the first surgeons in India to perform these new procedures, starting in 1994. She is currently the Group Medical Director of New Vision Laser Centers-Center for Sight, a part of Asias largest chain of laser refractive surgery clinics. She is one of the few surgeons who practices in two cities-Vadodara (where she resides) and Mumbai- since over two decades. As a pioneer in the LASIK technique, she has performed more than 50000 procedures, averaging around 2000 treatments since the last 25 years. She has, since the last 11 years, been heavily involved with the development of the SMILE procedure for performing refractive surgery. She was the third surgeon in the world to perform ReLEx and the first to perform single incison ReLEx smile, the standard way the procedure is performed today. As a consultant for Carl Zeiss Meditec, she has been involved with all kinds of studies on ReLEx smile, including studies for US FDA approval of the procedure. She is a well known ophthalmic teacher, and more than 1500 eye surgeons from all over the world have performed their first LASIK or ReLEx smile procedures under her mentorship. Besides, she oversees a very well regarded program for Cataract Surgery training. She has several publications in prestigious peer reviewed medical journals. In addition, she has written chapters, Prefaces and Introductions in several prestigious international books. She is a well known speaker in various Indian and International Ophthalmic meetings. In the last 10 years, she has spoken in around 150 international and Indian meetings as a keynote speaker, in instruction courses and in free paper sessions. These meetings include the World Ophthalmic Congress Meetings in Abu Dhabi and Berlin, several annual meetings of the American Academy of Ophthalmology, the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery and the European Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery. Closer home, she has given lectures in several Chinese and South East Asian Ophthalmic meetings.

  1. Articles 1 Apr 2021 9 min read

    A New Paradigm for Refractive Surgery: SMILE-Small Incision Lenticule Extraction

    Automated lamellar keratoplasty (ALK) was a technique to physically remove a refractive lenticule (the lenticule was merely a disc of corneal tissue) from the cornea after lifting a hinged flap and exposing the stroma. A mechanical microkeratome was used to do both steps of the ALK procedure. In the LASIK procedure, the refractive lenticule was ablated with the excimer laser, while the hinged flap was still created with the mechanical microkeratome. In a later iteration, Femto-LASIK involved creation of the hinged flap with a femtosecond laser, and an excimer laser was used to ablate the refractive lenticule. SMILE, a relatively new technique of performing refractive surgery, uses a femtosecond laser for all steps of the keratomileusis procedure. SMILE involves the creation of a refractive lenticule within the cornea using a femtosecond laser, and subsequent extraction of the refractive lenticule from within the cornea. The refractive error that needs to be treated defines the shape of