Technological Advances in LASIK

By Jeffrey Martin MD

Published on April 02, 2010

Many patients ask if different types of LASIK are truly different and why they may be asked to pay varying prices for these unique technological differences in laser vision correction. When LASIK surgeons first started with LASIK over 10 years ago, all LASIK was non-custom and blade microkeratome dependent. Back then, the first part of every LASIK procedure included using a blade machine to make a thin flap in the superficial layers of the cornea. The eye surgeon would then manually type the patient's prescription into the laser and perform the laser vision correction portion of the procedure. With this form of LASIK, every -1.00 was treated the same and there was no accounting for the individuality of each patient's vision.

Today, Dr. Jeffrey Martin creates all flaps with a bladeless laser called Intralase. With Intralase, bubbles are formed in the stroma or middle of the cornea due to the application of laser light. These bubbles connect to make the flap, which is then lifted. Intralase allows surgeons to make flaps without worrying about defective blades, metal fatigue, poorly shaped flaps, and free flaps. With Intralase, we are able to see the flaps as they are made and if they do not look perfect, we simply do not lift them and they melt back into the cornea. Intralase has raised the level of precision and safety during the flap creation part of LASIK surgery.

The laser vision correction portion of the LASIK procedure is now customized. Our visual systems, like our fingerprints, are completely unique to every patient. The laser reads your visual system using Wavescan to create a custom map or Waveprint of each patient's vision. This pattern is used to reshape the cornea using automatic centering, automatic tracking, and iris registration for the very best results. Iris registration allows the laser to identify iris landmarks that are unique in each patient and uses the landmarks to exactly line up the vision correction.

The combination of blade-free Intralase and custom Wavefront laser vision correction gives our patients the best chance at a perfect result.

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