What Is LASIK?

Professor Dan Reinstein – “LASIK stands for laser in situ keratomileusis and the concept was to basically make a shaving, a very thin shaving of the front part of the cornea.  What we do is we leave this shaving attached to the cornea on a hinge.  We open the flap and we take tissue from the bed that is exposed to the flap and now with the Excimer laser because we are able to remove one quarter of 1000 mm tissue per pulse, it is a very small amount.  We are able to extremely accurately reshape or take tissue from different areas to re-shape the bed, so that when you place this flap back on, you get a new shape and you focus people’s vision.  The Bladeless LASIK otherwise sometimes called all laser LASIK, is basically LASEK with the flap and zap and putting the flap back.  But in case of this we do not use a mechanical device to create the flap, of which there have been 30 million flaps already made, very relievable.  But instead of using a mechanical system we use a different kind of laser called Femtosecond laser to create the flap and quite simply this laser produces tiny little explosions, super small micro explosions within tissue.  The computer controlled system will place these little dots within the cornea very-very close together like dots on the postage stamp and then as a surgeon I can go in, find that plane and basically separate the flap from the rest of the cornea.  Basically it is the same as LASIK.”

LASIK Explained Further…

LASIK stands for laser in situ keratomileusis. It is the most popular form of Laser Eye Surgery, in which the laser reshapes the cornea of the eye. LASIK treatment therefore alters the refractive properties of the cornea and thereby corrects or enhances eyesight.