Look carefully at the delicate LASIK flap
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The term LASIK, is an acronym which stands for "Laser In-Situ Keratomileusis" and combines
the accuracy of the excimer laser with the precision of today's advanced computer technology.
More than 1 million LASIK procedures per year are being performed in the U.S. and an even greater number internationally. Vast
improvements in LASIK have been realized since the first LASIK was performed in the U.S. in 1991. Today whether you are
nearsighted or farsighted, have astigmatism or reading difficulty, you can receive your vision correction with the best laser
combination in the world, the IntraLase bladefree flap
laser and the WaveLight Allegretto Wave
excimer laser.
LASIK is unique in that the laser portion of the procedure takes place beneath the surface of the cornea. This revolutionary concept
is achieved by lifting a thin layer of the corneal surface, which then serves as a protective flap and allows access to the inner layer.
Once the protective flap has been created, the excimer laser is used to remove microscopic layers of tissue. (The typical
laser time of the LASIK procedure is under 60 seconds).
After the laser treatment has been completed, the protective flap is then gently replaced in its original position and the eye is
allowed to heal naturally. Because tissue removal with LASIK is subsurface in nature, healing time is rapid and the visual recovery
process is dramatically improved. Most patients enjoy improved vision less than 24 hours after the procedure.
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LASIK is a Two-Step Procedure that Requires Two Lasers
First, the IntraLase FS60 Laser Creates a Micro-Thin Flap of the Outer Corneal Layers.
The IntraLase method is a 100%
bladefree approach to creating your corneal flap, the thin flap of tissue that the surgeon folds back in order to perform your
LASIK procedure. Traditionally, surgeons have used an instrument called a microkeratome for the creation of corneal flaps. The
microkeratome is a hand-held blade that moves across the eye, cutting the corneal flap as it goes. While LASIK is extremely safe,
if complications do occur, the microkeratome is most often the case. The
IntraLase method, by contrast,
enables your surgeon to create your corneal flap without a blade ever touching your eye.
With the IntraLase method, tiny pulses of laser
light pass harmlessly through the outer portion of your cornea and form a uniform layer of microscopic bubbles just beneath the
surface of your eye. When it's time for your LASIK treatment to be performed, your surgeon easily separates the tissue where these
bubbles occur and then folds it back, thus creating your corneal flap. When LASIK is complete, a flap created using the
IntraLase method is uniquely able to "lock" back into place.
Your eye then begins to rapidly heal.
Permanently installed at the Arrowsmith Eye Surgery Center on July 1, 2005 as the
IntraLase FS15, the laser has now been upgraded to
the FS60 - the most upgraded and fastest flap laser in the field. The difference - instead of about 50 seconds to create the LASIK
flap, the FS60 creates the flap in about 17 seconds and more gently and more comfortably!
"This makes our LASIK procedures entirely bladefree", said Peter N. Arrowsmith, MD, the Surgery center's Medical Director.
"The first step of the two-step LASIK procedure is now performed in about 30 seconds with computer-controlled laser precision. This
results in even greater patient comfort and produces safer, more precise and more predictable flaps. The best news is that this
allows for even more precise vision correction with our
WaveLight Allegretto Wave
excimer laser so that patients achieve the sharpest and most predictable vision possible both day and night," said Dr. Arrowsmith.
"Though an earlier model, the FS15 was previously introduced to Nashville, the IntraLase FS60 is the newest, most advanced and refined,
and the fastest IntraLase yet, and that is what we wanted for our patients", continued Dr. Arrowsmith. "The combination of the IntraLase
FS60 and the WaveLight Allegretto Wave
excimer lasers is unsurpassed for producing the very vest results possible for our patients!"
Next, the WaveLight Allegretto Wave Excimer Laser Corrects Your Vision by Reshaping the Cornea Beneath the Flap.
The German-made WaveLight Allegretto Wave excimer laser was approved by the FDA after extensive clinical trials that
involved the Arrowsmith Eye Institute and surgeon Peter N. Arrowsmith, MD, one of eleven surgeons in the U.S. The WaveLight Allegretto
Wave excimer laser received approval for the largest range of vision correction ever permitted in the U.S. after it demonstrated the best
visual results of any FDA approved laser in the U.S.
The WaveLight Allegretto Wave
excimer laser is a next-generation computer-controlled laser system that incorporates the latest technology
for LASIK vision correction procedures. The WaveLight Allegretto Wave excimer laser incorporates a 1-millimeter scanning laser beam which
produces the fastest vision correction available. The WaveLight Allegretto Wave's "perfect pulse technology" is able to apply each precise
1-mm laser beam at the rate of 200 pulses per second. This rapid treatment is exceeded only by it's pupil tracking system which checks
the position of the pupil 250 times per second.
This means that the
WaveLight Allegretto Wave
excimer laser adjusts precisely for any eye
movement during the LASIK procedure so that the patient does not need to worry about causing any problems due to eye movement while the
laser is working. This helps to ensure that the desired refractive correction is achieved with the greatest possible precision. Most
WaveLight Allegretto Wave LASIK procedures take less than 30 seconds to complete.
Faster treatment times means less anxiety, less time under the laser, and a much more comfortable procedure.
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