LASIK With IntraLase and Custom LASIK
The IntraLase Method is a 100% blade-free technique used to perform the critical first step in the LASIK procedure: creating the corneal flap. The creation of the corneal flap prepares the eye for the second step of the LASIK procedure, where an Excimer Laser is used on the inner cornea to correct vision.
The IntraLase Method uses tiny, rapid pulses of laser light to create your corneal flap—instead of using a metal blade—during the first step of LASIK. Each pulse of light passes through the top layers of your cornea and forms a microscopic bubble at a specific depth and position within your eye that is determined by the doctor. A uniform layer of bubbles is created just beneath the corneal surface as the IntraLase® laser moves back and forth across your eye.
Just prior to applying laser vision correction, the doctor creates your corneal flap by gently separating the tissue where these bubbles have formed. The corneal flap is then folded back so the doctor can perform the second step of your LASIK treatment.
What is the difference between a corneal flap created with the IntraLase Method and one created with a microkeratome? The microkeratome is a hand-held instrument, which contains a steel blade that moves back and forth and creates a cut as it travels across the cornea. A microkeratome is only capable of making a single, one-dimensional cut across the cornea. As it cuts, the blade oscillates back and forth, which can leave an irregular surface after the flap is lifted. This can affect the quality of your postoperative vision.
Because of the unique way in which the IntraLase Method creates a precisely positioned layer of bubbles just beneath the surface of your eye, it creates a smooth even surface after your flap is lifted. With the IntraLase Method, a blade never touches your eye.
The advantages of the LASIK with IntraLase is that patients have fewer flap complications, need fewer re-treatments (enhancements) and have a greater likelihood of achieving 20/20 acuity or better.
Custom LASIK surgery, also known as wavefront LASIK or wavefront-guided LASIK, uses 3-dimensional measurements of how your eye processes images to guide the laser in re-shaping the cornea. With a wavefront measurement system, some extremely precise, individualized vision correction outcomes may be achieved that would be impossible with traditional LASIK surgery, contact lenses or eyeglasses.
Standard prescriptions for glasses, contacts or traditional LASIK procedures can correct ordinary vision defects such as myopia, hyperopia and astigmatism. But other irregularities associated with the eye's optical system could not be addressed until the advent of wavefront and related technology used in custom LASIK.
Wavefront technology is groundbreaking because it has the potential to improve not only how much you can see, visual acuity measured by the standard 20/20 eye chart, but also how well you can see, in terms of contrast sensitivity and fine detail. This translates into a reduced risk of post-LASIK complications, such as glare, halos and difficulty with night vision.
