NewVision Clinics Director Dr Noel Alpins explains how his method has become an international standard

The pioneering work of NewVision Clinics Director Dr Noel Alpins AM has reached far and wide.

Earlier this year, the Melbourne-based, refractive and cataract surgeon, was recognised with a prestigious Order of Australia medal. Beyond our borders, his famous Alpins Method for analysing astigmatism, has been adopted as the standard for reporting astigmatism by some of the world’s leading ophthalmology journals.

The method, which uses vector mathematics to determine the effectiveness of correcting astigmatism by laser refractive surgery, also recently became the standard for reporting astigmatism results by the American National Standards Institute.

In his new book, Practical Astigmatism – Planning and Analysis, released in September, Dr Alpins explains the long and intriguing history of how this came to be.

Despite first describing the method in 1993, it was only adopted as a reporting standard by the Journal of Refractive Surgery (JRS) in 2014, and the Journal of Cataract and Refractive Surgery (JCRS) and Ophthalmology, just last year.

“Some of the biggest advancements in ophthalmology over the years have actually taken 20 years to be instituted so I feel like I’m in good company,” Dr Alpins joked.

“But in all seriousness, having those journals come out and say my method is the method that is going to be used for authors to write articles about astigmatism was  hugely gratifying for us here at NewVision Clinics.

“We’ve been seeing the outstanding results the method has been helping us achieve at our clinics for more than 20 years, so to have that recognised was a real validation of our work.

It has really put us at the forefront of refractive and cataract surgery not just in Australia, but also internationally.”

Dr Alpins first began performing refractive eye surgery in 1985, and was one of the first ophthalmologists in Victoria to start performing laser vision correction in 1991. Since founding NewVision Clinics in the mid-1990s, he has treated tens of thousands of patients with the Excimer laser.

His new 250-page book, based on more than 20 scientific papers authored by himself over two decades, explains the 20-plus year journey of developing, expanding and refining his now world-leading method for treating astigmatism.

In April, this  long-term commitment to achieving the best refractive and cataract surgery outcomes for patients was recognised when he was presented with his Order of Australia Medal for his contributions to ophthalmology innovation, particularly to the development of innovative refractive surgery techniques.

To find out more about laser eye surgery at NewVision Clinics, please call 1800 20 20 20.

Byline: Rachel Wells is an experienced journalist with more than 15 years’ experience reporting for The Age and The Sunday Age.