Carmen José Barraquer Coll, MD
I am a daughter of Professor José Ignacio Barraquer Moner, who is known to be the father of refractive surgery. I am among the fourth of five generations of ophthalmic surgeons in the Barraquer family. We run and work at the Barraquer Clinic in Bogotá, Colombia, where refractive surgery was developed. It is easy to understand why I became an eye doctor: Watching my father make great contributions to ophthalmology has been a beacon of light, guiding my way.
The Barraquer Clinic has been using SCHWIND lasers since 1995, first the SCHWIND KERATOM, then the SCHWIND ESIRIS, and currently the SCHWIND AMARIS 500. All of these laser systems have produced very good patient outcomes over the years. We have five anterior segment surgeons who perform refractive surgery in our institution; all have enjoyed operating with SCHWIND’s laser systems. The number of refractive surgery procedures that we have collectively performed over the years is considerable. Although laser refractive surgery is an important part of our practice and procedural volume, in our minds, it is only one of many surgical procedures we perform as corneal and anterior segment surgeons to improve visual performance in our patients.
Today, I am the head of our clinic. I no longer perform surgery, but I continue teaching as a professor in our school of ophthalmology and see patients in the clinic. I also continue to enjoy a fruitful relationship with SCHWIND and its Latin American distribution partner, Rocol. Both provide outstanding service support. Over the past 45 years, I have witnessed many innovations in ophthalmology and refractive surgery. Today, I believe refractive surgery is in an unparalleled arena with much less risk of complications than what we saw in the beginnings of laser surgery. Patients all over the world achieve good results with quality laser systems and innovative technologies.
Ángela María Gutiérrez, MD
It’s hard to believe that 30 years have passed since I was introduced to SCHWIND’s technology. From the very beginning until now, my impression of the company is the same: SCHWIND cares deeply for its customers and sees us as an extension of their family. SCHWIND works very closely with surgeons—the relationship we share is really special. When a surgeon has a valuable idea, the company is willing to support and collaborate with them to develop new innovations. I believe that there’s nothing better than working with a company like SCHWIND because they truly support their surgeons and help us to treat our patients with the highest-quality technologies.
My initial experience with SCHWIND was with its first laser platform, the KERATOM. Immediately, I was impressed by the precision and postoperative surgical results. Additionally, patients were extremely happy with their outcomes and the experience they had in our clinic and with the laser.
This introduction to SCHWIND’s offerings convinced us to focus on the company’s technologies. With every new technology that was released, I continued to be impressed by SCHWIND. The SCHWIND AMARIS (Figure) is almost perfect. The results are excellent, and again patients are happy with their experience and their outcomes, which have shown to be stable in the long term.
Figure. The SCHWIND AMARIS laser platforms.
I choose SCHWIND because of the outstanding technology, the excellent outcomes, and for the relationships they have with their customers.
Jesús Vidaurri Leal, MD
Schwind eye-tech-solutions has been a market leader since modern refractive surgery became a reality in the 1990s. At that time, I chose Schwind because I felt the company had the best and safest surgical technologies and techniques available. Three decades later, the same is still true. The refractive surgery team at Instituto Vidaurri de Ojos currently uses the SCHWIND AMARIS 1050 as well as the company’s diagnostic equipment, including the Sirius, Peramis, and MS39. This completes our refractive surgery suite. We have performed more than 50,000 refractive surgery procedures (PRK, phototherapeutic keratectomy, LASIK, and femtosecond LASIK) in the past 30 years using SCHWIND technology in northeastern Mexico. Most importantly, Schwind technology has enabled us to perform these procedures with the highest degree of safety and success.
SCHWIND has always prioritized safety and precision. I think of the company and Rocol as our partners. Together, we have offered patients safe and effective solutions for their refractive problems for 3 decades. I am thankful to Rolf Schwind, who I consider a friend, and his beautiful family for the lifetime of work they have dedicated to advancing refractive surgery, allowing many of us around the world to change the lives of our patients.
The SCHWIND team is led by intelligent, humble, perfectionist, and visionary leaders who have worked since the beginning with the most brilliant minds in refractive surgery, including Professor Barraquer, who recommended the first SCHWIND KERATOM laser to me in 1993 in a conference in Bordeaux, France, and Dr. Jenkings from the United Kingdom where I first witnessed this equipment in action. Their complete focus remains on bringing technology that works to the market, and they have never lost focus on safety and precision. Congratulations and many thanks to Mr. Schwind and the entire SCHWIND company for your lifelong dedication to pushing refractive surgery toward safer, more efficient, and more precise diagnostic and laser treatment technologies.
José Miguel Varas, MD
Keratomileusis—the first iteration of corneal refractive surgery—was invented by Professor José Ignacio Barraquer in the 1940s. It was originally performed by manually carving a frozen sheet of cornea on a precision lathe. I had the honor of learning from Professor Barraquer during my residency. He showed me the technique, method, and calculations that were required to reshape the cornea to achieve a refractive correction.
Forty years later, in the 1990s, the first excimer laser systems for refractive surgery entered the marketplace. Once again, I turned to the master for advice and asked him to recommend the best instrument available for refractive surgery. His answer was the SCHWIND KERATOM. Professor Barraquer’s advice was as accurate then as it had always been. I started using the KERATOM in 1994. After only a few short experiences with the system, I was convinced that the SCHWIND technology was the best of all.
The laser’s rotation of fractal masks allowed the correction of all types of myopia, hyperopia, and astigmatism with great precision and elegance. There were limits of magnitude—as to be expected with any new technology—but they were defined in the first few years, thanks to the exceptional contributions of many of SCHWIND’s researchers, engineers, and scientists—of course in collaboration with key surgeons.
In 2002, my practice acquired the SCHWIND ESIRIS flying spot laser. The auto-tracking technology simplified the laser and made it easier to use less energy during the treatments. In 2011, we acquired the SCHWIND AMARIS, which opened the door to new elements of precision and speed of treatment.
SCHWIND is a reliable company that is responsive to its users’ needs. The quality of its products is unparalleled. Additionally, SCHWIND works closely with its distributors and offers advice to and alliance with its users through social gatherings, congresses, user meetings, and visits to their laboratories.
My institution does not focus on the volume of patients we see but on the careful analysis of the indications and calculations required to obtain the best refractive results. I estimate that, in 28 years of practice, we have operated on more than 25,000 patients, many with SCHWIND’s technologies and innovations.
