Improvisation is the key to better performance always, and this holds good for lasik surgery too. Over the years, scientists have been looking at ways and means to improve the quality of lasik surgery.
The surgery has involved two steps: cutting open a flap of the cornea and then making the required adjustment. Usually, the cornea is cut using a hand held device called a microkeratome having an oscillating metal blade.
With the invention of the IntraLase method, this inconsistency is now taken out of the equation. The IntraLase method, also commonly called 'bladeless lasik', is a breakthrough innovation in lasik surgery.
The IntraLase method takes away the need for a handheld blade during the surgery. The hand-held microkeratome while being extremely useful, came with its own set of problems.
While this process has been relatively safe, the one area where it has failed to deliver is the ability to provide consistency in depth and thickness while making an incision. This is primarily because of the inconsistency in the precision levels provided by the microkeratome. Besides there have been other risk areas, such as the flap being too thin, often leading to a tear in the flap, or the flap not being cut out entirely.
IntraLase is a computer-controlled technology used in lasik surgery that enables a surgeon to cut through the corneal surface and create the required flap with utmost accuracy and precision.
It delivers pulses of light in rapid succession, at intervals of one quadrillionth of a second to a specific depth. The depth to which the pulses are to be delivered can be fixed prior to the procedure itself, as also the position at which the flap is to be made.
IntraLase is the first of its kind used for lasik surgery, and the bladeless aspect of the procedure is a big plus for surgeons looking for the right depth and positioning.
While a microkeratome can create a cut that is one-dimensional, the IntraLase technology enables surgeons to detail all the specific aspects of the flap – the thickness of the flap, the exact location on the cornea where it is to be created, the circumference of the flap, the angles of the edges of the flap.
This possibility enables surgeons to provide highly specific flaps for each patient, something that was not possible with the microkeratome. This is a huge advantage over other existing procedures of lasik surgery, as it increases manifold the accuracy and specificity of individual procedures for different patients.
The wide acceptance of this new technology of lasik surgery is evident from the numbers – over 1,000,000 surgeries have been performed to date using the IntraLase method.
One of the greatest advantages of the IntraLase is consistency in the positioning and dimensions of the flap. The second major advantage is that there is no physical contact of a blade with the eye; the cut is done using a laser.
There are considerably lesser side effects, with patients reporting reduced instances of inability to see well in places having a low light source. Besides, a corneal flap created using the IntraLase method of lasik surgery ensures that the flap falls back in the exact location after the procedure.
By: Samantha Davis -