IntraLase - Safer, Blade Free LASIK:

IntraLase is the advancement many have been waiting for.

Since LASIK was first approved in 1999, it has proven to be a remarkably safe and successful method of vision disorder correction. Even so, many potential LASIK candidates are hesitant to move forward with surgery in anticipation of what future advancements may hold. For these patients, LASIK surgery using the IntraLase ® Method—also known as all-laser LASIK or IntraLASIK—could be the advancement they’ve been waiting for.

The IntraLase Method is a sophisticated, bladeless approach to creating the corneal flap, or thin layer of tissue that the surgeon folds back to expose the part of the eye that is reshaped during the LASIK procedure. With the IntraLase Method, LASIK is not only 100% blade free, but safer than ever and able to provide more patients with vision that is 20/20 or better.

Traditionally, LASIK surgeons have relied on an instrument called a microkeratome for the creation of corneal flaps. The microkeratome is a fine, oscillating, hand-held steel blade that creates a cut as it travels across the cornea. While effective, the microkeratome has not changed significantly in 30 years of use in refractive surgery. In addition, while LASIK complications are extremely rare, when they do occur they may be associated with the use of the microkeratome.

The IntraLase Method, by contrast, eliminates the need for eye doctors to use a blade at all. Instead, this computer-controlled blade-free lasik technology works by delivering rapid pulses of light, a quadrillionth of a second each, to a pre-programmed depth and position within the cornea. Each pulse forms a microscopic bubble. As the IntraLase laser moves back and forth across the eye, the bubbles are connected so they form a corneal flap. Just prior to LASIK surgery, the eye doctor gently lifts the flap where these bubbles have created a smooth surface.

Also in contrast to a microkeratome, which simply delivers a one-dimensional cut, the blade free LASIK IntraLase Method enables the doctor to precisely design and control many aspects of the flap itself, such as its thickness, its circumference, and the angle of its edges, effectively tailoring the flap to the eye. This is of particular benefit to patients with steep, flat, or thin corneas, some of whom are not eligible for LASIK surgery performed with a microkeratome.

LASIK surgery has advanced steadily over the years; the technology used to measure a patient’s visual error prior to surgery has become more powerful and corrections can now be customized to a patient’s individual needs. Until the IntraLase Method, however, the creation of the corneal flap was the one step that lacked the technological sophistication of the rest of the LASIK procedure. As it turns out, that step is an important one in terms of providing patients with the best possible LASIK experience. For this reason, IntraLase training is part of the curriculum at most of the ophthalmic teaching institutions and is being adopted by eye care practices around the world.