There is a wide variety of equipments used, with varying costs, for testing and surgery. Varying technologies and equipments are required for measuring corneal thickness, corneal topography, eye tracking, tear film analysis, and all this is reflected in the cost towards the surgery.

The cost of LASIK surgery includes a variety of costs, including:

• Lease and maintenance of all devices used in the procedure, such as Microkeratome and corneal ring segments, etc.
• A royalty fee of around AUD$100 to AUD$150 to the manufacturer of the excimer laser. This covers the cost of developing the equipment.
• In case of the Custom LASIK procedure, a royalty of about AUD$150 to AUD$250 to be paid to the laser manufacturer.
• Cost covering Microkeratome blades, medications, and other surgical items, such as gowns, gloves and masks, etc to keep the operation sterile.
• Overhead, such as salaries of the surgical and office staff, the surgery center, rent, office equipment, office administration, etc.
• Costs to cover advertising, insurance, fees paid to other eye specialists assisting in the surgery, etc.

Average Cost of LASIK Surgery – How it is Charged

As mentioned earlier, the cost of LASIK surgery depends upon various factors, and is generally quoted, per eye basis. The price quoted is always indicative and will finally depend on the type of pre-operative testing, the procedures to be followed, and the type of correction and post-operative follow up. Although many may quote a figure of AUD$600 per eye approximately, the average cost is rarely less than AUD$1,000 per eye.

Newer surgical procedures and the advent of newer technologies are the main causes of the rising average cost of LASIK surgery. LASIK with IntraLase is more expensive than LASIK with Microkeratome. The LASIK flap is created by a laser in the IntraLase procedure, whereas in the Microkeratome procedure, the surgeon uses a microkeratome blade to carry out the procedure. This raises the average cost of LASIK surgery by about AUD$400.

Taking into account all the overheads, and the costs, rents, etc of the equipment, and the procedure itself, the average cost of LASIK surgery is around AUD$1500 to AUD$2500 per eye. Before decide on surgery, discuss the cost of LASIK surgery with the doctor.