The LASIK of Today is Not the Same as it Was 15 Years Ago
Dr. Rebenitsch: The LASIK that we have today is not the LASIK of fifteen years ago. The technology that we have now is not the technology that we had fifteen years ago; it’s better. It’s a lot better. Before the femtosecond laser we were using a blade to cut through the cornea in order to lift up that natural flap. It worked well, but we found that the flaps could slip, there were higher-order aberrations which caused halo and glare, and it just, frankly, wasn’t as accurate, and it wasn’t as safe. With the advent of the femtosecond laser, we’re able to make a very precise flap, we know exactly how thick it is, the flap. The [femtosecond 00:00:40] laser has been shown to slip much less and to be safer than the previous bladed keratomes.
The second laser that we use is the one that actually brings your eye into focus, that’s the excimer laser. It uses ultraviolet light to reshape the cornea. Every pulse removes approximately a quarter micron of tissue. The excimer laser that we use is five hundred hertz, that’s five hundred pulses per second which is incredibly fast. It’s actually the fastest laser available here in the United States. That laser over somewhere between one and twenty seconds or so, depending on your prescription, can reshape it to get rid nearsightedness, farsightedness, astigmatism, and in the future, abnormally shaped corneas as well.
Does better technology equate to better results? The short answer is yes, it does. Vision is not just the letters that you see; vision is what you experience, the vividness, the colors. I talked to so many patients who after LASIK said that they can see the details of the trees, the leaves as they drive in the next day. That’s not just getting rid of your nearsightedness or your astigmatism or your farsightedness. We are looking at all of the aspects of your vision in order to give you the best possible results. So yes, better technology does mean better vision. It’s just that simple.
