Laser eye surgery involves using a laser to adjust the patient’s vision by reshaping the cornea. There are several different procedures – and while all of these employ a laser, they do so in different ways. These include LASIK, LASEK and PRK as well as advanced surface ablation and Z-Lenticle Extraction laser correction.
When it originally appeared as a treatment option, LASIK wasn’t completely bladeless. Traditional, or ‘blade’ LASIK does make use of a laser to reshape the cornea – but the initial step of creating a corneal flap is done manually, with a small, microkeratome blade.
Today, bladeless LASIK involves using one laser (known as a femtosecond laser) to create the flap, before carrying out the main part of the surgery with the excimer laser.
Bladeless laser eye surgery has advantages over the old method:
However, when considering blade or bladeless laser eye surgery, you might also want to consider the following:
OCL offers bladeless laser eye surgery procedures using the very latest in laser technology. The laser currently used for flap creation is the state-of-the-art Zeimer LDV Crystalline Femtosecond Laser, while the Wavelight Allegretto Excimer Laser is skilfully employed to reshape the cornea.
If you would like to discuss your suitability for bladeless LASIK, or if you have any questions about the procedure, contact us to book a consultation.