LASIK Technological Advancements

About Lasik Technology
Lasik is fast gaining acceptance as the popular method for improving vision. This is especially so with the stabilization of the costs involved. With new technology the surgery is now very quick, usually in less than 2 minutes for each eye and is relatively painless. Patients can walk out of the recovery room in the same day and the recovery time is short. In almost all cases patients are able to perform all of their regular activities within a week.
We can no longer deny that Lasik vision correction has and continues to improve the quality of life for people who rely on glasses and contact lenses.

Advances in technology
With new advances in lasers and instrumentation, the Lasik vision correction is being brought to a newer level of reliability to both the patient and doctor. Surgeries can now be performed in a personalized and accurate manner. Patients will receive the best possible outcome with such technological advancements.

The past
When lasik was first introduced, it was received with caution. Especially when in the past the only way Lasik was performed was by using a hand-held blade to cut open the cornea. And since it’s done manually it does not always have the desired cut and strongly relied on the doctor’s skills and experience in making the cut.
Although no Lasik procedure can promise to completely eliminate the need for contacts or glasses, the emergence of new technology in Lasik is making this a reality. Here we would like to show some new Lasik techniques that offer much more accuracy and better vision results.

The two techniques we will discuss include;

1. Wavefront™ LASIK (Custom LASIK) - higher level of safety and accuracy, personalized form of vision correction, better visual correction results
2. IntraLase® laser - bladeless form of LASIK
   
   

Wavefront™ LASIK (Custom LASIK)
The Wavefront™ LASIK is also known as Wavefront™-guided LASIK.
With custom LASIK, your eye's ability to focus light rays is measured, and a 3-D map is created that demonstrates irregularities in the way your eye processes images. Information contained in the map guides the laser in customizing the treatment to reshape your eye's corneal surface so that these irregularities can be corrected. This gives the surgeon more accurate results. This often does away with the possibility of needing a second “enhancement” surgery to remove more corneal tissue. This technique incorporates the use of microsensors and wavelight directed from a laser beam through the eye to the retina. This light is reflected back out of the eye, allowing corneal irregularities to be measured on a 3-D map, which serves as a blueprint for your eye. The recorded aberrations of your visual system are then transferred to the actual laser that is used to reshape the cornea during LASIK surgery. This procedure uses the wavefront-guided method and is set to exactly match the needs of the patient. Custom Lasik can help correct and improve vision problems such as hyperopia, myopia and astigmatism. It can also correct worse vision problems that affect a patient’s vision. These can include starbursts or seeing halos around objects at night, sensitivity, and complications from traditional Lasik surgery. Many Lasik surgeons offer this method of Lasik surgery. Often, doctors recommend this method to help patients achieve a safer, more accurate vision correction surgery.

IntraLASIK with IntraLase
During Lasik the surgeon cuts a flap in the patient’s cornea and after pulling it out of the way tiny bits of corneal tissue is removed. Often more patients fear the creation of the flap more than any other part of the Lasik procedure.
IntraLASIK refers to LASIK that creates a corneal flap with a femtosecond laser microkeratome instead of a mechanical steel blade microkeratome. IntraLASIK is also called “All Laser Lasik”. This can be performed with any excimer laser used for LASIK including the conventional wavefront-optimized or wavefront- guided ablation.
This new technique sets to offer unprecedented safety through the latest advance in LASIK technology. The IntraLase utilizes a computer-guided laser that assists in creating the hinged flap with a beam of light. This ensures the flap has exact corneal centration, thickness, and diameter, providing patients with the most precise results possible. As opposed to the old hand-held microkeratome blade, this is often the most preferred.
Even though both of the methods are proven to be both safe and effective, some doctors have found that IntraLASIK reduces the risks of complications following the procedure. This reduced risk of complications, the use of a computer-guided laser, and accurate results make the bladeless form of LASIK the preferred choice for many patients.

As we have seen above, there are many forms and variations of Lasik surgery. Each one essentially uses a laser to map out the eye, target vision problems and reshape the cornea.
Coupled with the latest technology, patients often experience a better outcome with their Lasik vision correction surgery. Your eye care professional will be able to tell you through a thorough eye exam which Lasik surgery most fits your needs. As with any medical procedure, questions regarding these new forms of Lasik technology should be directed towards your Lasik surgeon.

What should you know about LASIK before getting it done?

If you are thinking about getting corrective eye surgery to help fix your ability to read, and see more clearly, your eye care doctor should first test you to see which surgery is right for you. While LASIK surgery is getting more and more popular, it is not for everyone. Here is what you need to know when deciding if this procedure is right for you when consulting your eye care physician.

LASIK vision correction can help with correcting farsightedness, nearsightedness, and astigmatisms of all sorts. However, certain conditions, such as Presbyopia, (A condition that requires older patients to wear eye glasses to correct vision) cannot be treated by having this eye surgery done. You see, when you go in to have LASIK eye surgery, the surgeon will actually reshape your cornea. He does this by vaporizing the tissue with a high tech ultraviolet laser.

Before deciding to have a Surgeon do this procedure to your eyeballs, you really need to do your due diligence, and research heavily about different forms of corrective eye surgery. Ask your friends and family members that may have experienced this surgery. ask about their experiences with specific surgeons too. Lasik Eye Surgeons have a great reputation for performing this surgery without causing any damage to the eye. Many patients have experienced great improvement in their vision after going through with the decision to have LASIK done. Do not settle for going to the closest surgeon in your area. Do your homework concerning doctors across the country. It will be worth going to someone with a good reputation, even if it costs a little more money to fly to them.

There are some risks and side effects to LASIK surgery. It is always best to know what your chances of being damaged are, and if having this surgery done is worth these risks.

Your eye doctor should evaluate you to decide if you are a suitable candidate for surgery. Not everyone is a good fit. If your corneas are too thin, it will not be possible, and you could actually run the risk of going blind. Your ophthalmologist should go over all of the risks involved before you go ahead and agree to have the procedure done.

You should find a good set of testimonials of others who have undergone LASIK eye surgery in the past, and get a grasp for whether or not making this decision is right for you. You can find several of them on the web.

One last thing you should know before looking for a good surgeon, is how much they charge. Never under any circumstances let a doctor perform eye surgery if they charge $500 per eye or less. You get what you pay for, and when it comes to your eyes, you have no choice but to go for the expensive, experienced surgeon who has performed the operation on over 100 patients. The cost to have good LASIK surgery done should be no less than $2,000 per eye.

Do the above research, and determine whether or not this solution to vision correction is right for you. If not, then seek other vision correction apporaches, such as wearing glasses, or contact lenses.

if you are considering lasik eye surgery for yourself, visit some of the resources links available here.

What is LASIK eye surgery

If you are suffering from some kind of eye disorder, most probably you know the feeling of not being able to distinguish people, their facial expression, image on the television, sceneries and sad to say your surroundings.
I am having perfect eyesight so I am not speaking from experience but the closest people around me are suffering from some kind of eye disorders from mild to severe. I feel their pain and anguish when they struggle to look for their glasses or when they lose their contact lenses.
However, recently for them all that changed after they had a surgery.

The only word I get from them after the surgery is – Freedom

Currently there are several types of surgical techniques being performed daily to correct refractive errors. Refractive eye surgery is a procedure intended to correct the common eye disorders or refractive errors such as Hyperopia (farsightedness), Myopia (nearsightedness) and Astigmatism (distorted vision).

Of all the corrective methods the laser based laser refractive correction is the most technologically advanced method available which allows for unparalleled degree of precision and predictability.

The Food and Drug Administration first approved the excimer laser in October 1995 for correcting mild to moderate nearsightedness. With that approval, the agency also restricted use of the laser to practitioners trained both in laser refractive surgery and in the calibration and operation of the laser. Currently, the excimer laser has been approved for use in a procedure called photorefractive keratectomy (PRK), and, as of November 1998, for a procedure called laser in situ Keratomileusis (LASIK).

The LASIK procedure is the latest technology, which for most patients, is the superior technology for vision correction

LASIK

This is to simplify the understanding of LASIK laser eye surgery performed by ophthalmologists.

What does the term LASIK stand for? 

LASIK = Laser-Assisted in situ keratomileusis

It's is used for correcting myopia, hyperopia and astigmatism.

LASIK is seen as a preferred procedure in comparison to PRK which stands for photorefractive keratecotomy because LASIK has faster recovery time for patients and it causes less pain and discomfort.

In summary, you may loose your corrective eyeglasses or contact lenses by going for LASIK.

Pre-Surgery Requirements

Patients wearing soft contact lenses typically are instructed to stop wearing them approximately 7 to 10 days before surgery. Some surgeons recommend that patients wearing hard contact lenses should stop wearing them for a minimum of six weeks plus another six weeks for every three years the hard contacts had been worn.

Before the surgery, the surfaces of the patient's corneas are examined with a computer-controlled scanning device to determine their exact shape. Using low-power lasers, it creates a topographic map of the cornea. This process also detects astigmatism and other irregularities in the shape of the cornea.

Using this information, the surgeon calculates the amount and locations of corneal tissue to be removed during the operation. The patient typically is prescribed an antibiotic to start taking beforehand, to minimize the risk of infection after the procedure.

Higher order Aberrations are visual problems not captured in a traditional eye exam. In a young healthy eye, the level of higher order aberrations are typically low and insignificant.

Concern has long plagued the tendency of refractive surgeries to induce higher order aberration not correctible by traditional contacts or glasses. The advancement of lasik technique and technologies has helped eliminate the risk of clinically significant visual impairment after the surgery.

There has been controversy about the amount of higher order aberrations that would lead to significant vision impairment. In extreme cases, where proper policy was not followed and before key advances, some people could suffer rather debilitating symptoms including serious loss of contrast sensitivity in poor lighting situations.

Over time, most of the attention has been focused on spherical aberration. Lasik and PRK tend to induce spherical aberration, because of the tendency of the laser to under correct as it moves outward from the center of the treatment zone.

This is really only a significant issue for large corrections. There is some thought if the lasers were simply programmed to adjust for this tendency, no significant spherical aberration would be induced. Hence, in eyes with little existing higher order aberrations, 'wavefront optimized' lasik rather than wavefront guided Lasik may well be the future.

Regardless, most patients with even the highest corrections remain highly satisfied even with conventional lasik.

Possible Complications

The incidence of flap complications has been estimated to be 0.244%. Flap complications (such as displaced flaps or folds in the flaps that necessitate repositioning, diffuse lamellar keratitis, and epithelial ingrowth) are common in lamellar corneal surgeries but rarely lead to permanent visual acuity loss; the incidence of these microkeratome-related complications decreases with increased physician experience.

A slipped flap (a corneal flap that detaches from the rest of the cornea) is one of the most common complications. The chances of this are greatest immediately after surgery, so patients typically are advised to go home and sleep, to let the flap heal.

Flap interface particles are another finding whose clinical significance is undetermined. A Finnish study found that particles of various sizes and reflectivity were clinically visible in 38.7% of eyes examined via slit lamp biomicroscopy, but apparent in 100% of eyes using confocal microscopy.

Test your eyesight

Optometrists measures your vision with the use of a calibrated letter chart. We are all very familiar with the letter charts. Here is an online version of a simulated eyesight test.

To ensure the accuracy of the test there are a few points to note:

1. Position yourself 150cm away from the monitor
   
2. If applicable wear your distance glasses
   
3. Normal vision is referred to as 20/20 or 6/6
   
4. The legal visual driving requirement for a motor vehicle is 6/12
   

This chart has been calibrated for a 17 inch monitor at a resolution of 1024x768 or a 15 inch monitor at a resolution of 800x600.

How this chart works.

Use this chart to measure your vision. Make sure you sit at a distance of 150cm away from your computer monitor and your eyes are level with that of the eye chart above. Perform this test one eye at a time, covering up the eye you are not testing.

How far down the chart can you read?

If you are able to read down to:

6/6 line, you have 20/20 vision.

6/7.5 line, it means you have vision that is slightly below 20/20 vision.

6/12 line, you have met the legal visual driving standard.

6/60 line or worse, you are classified as 'legally blind'. You may be eligible for government assistance.