LASIK is a surgical procedure intended to reduce a person's dependency on glasses or contact lenses. The goal of this Web site is to provide objective information to the public about LASIK surgery. See other sections of this site to learn about what you should know before surgery, what will happen during the surgery, and what you should expect after surgery. There is a glossary of terms and a checklist of issues for you to consider, practices to follow, and questions to ask your doctor before undergoing LASIK surgery.
LASIK stands for Laser-Assisted In Situ Keratomileusis and is a procedure that permanently changes the shape of the cornea, the clear covering of the front of the eye, using an excimer laser. A knife, called a microkeratome, is used to cut a flap in the cornea. A hinge is left at one end of this flap. The flap is folded back revealing the stroma, the middlesection of the cornea. Pulses from a computer-controlled laser vaporize a portion of the stroma and the flap is replaced. There are other techniques and many new terms related to LASIK that you may hear about.
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The technique, known as wavefront-guided laser eye surgery, not only reduces the most common side effects of standard laser procedures, including blurry night vision; it also offers patients higher chances of achieving 20/20 vision--or better. The Food and Drug Administration approved the first wavefront system in October, and with other companies close behind, the procedure is expected to become widely available by the middle of next year.
More than 3 million Americans have undergone laser vision correction, which uses a laser to reshape the cornea, since the procedure first became available in the United States in 1995. Lasik, short for laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis, is the most popular version of the surgery because it takes 10 minutes for each eye, and basic recovery time is about 24 hours. It costs about $1,600 per eye.
But Lasik also can create side effects, including vision problems like "halos" and "glare." The FDA doesn't track rates of complications, but Dave Harmon, president of industry trend tracker Marketscope LLC, estimates about 3 percent of Lasik patients are dissatisfied with their vision. Amid bad press and a worsening economy, laser centers have seen business drop off steeply in the past two years.
Since paying $2,500 for traditional laser surgery in 1999 to correct his nearsightedness, Michael Bargiel has had trouble seeing clearly, especially at night. "When I look at a light source, it has streaks bursting out of it like a star," says the 30-year-old industrial designer, who also complains of double vision and headaches while at work. A second procedure to correct the problems only made his vision worse, he says.
The new wavefront technique, which is similar to a process used to fix problems with the Hubble Space Telescope, takes detailed measurements of how the eye processes light and then customizes the laser treatment to each eye, reducing the likelihood of side effects.
Consumers should expect a new blitz in the marketing campaign for Lasik. Laser companies are betting that the new wavefront systems will help tap a market of some 70 million nearsighted or farsighted people who wear glasses or contact lenses and could benefit from the surgery.
"Once we get patients past that hurdle of thinking that Lasik has major complications, we think that volume will grow," says Robert Grant, president of the medical division of laser maker Lumenis Ltd. in Santa Clara, Calif.
Bausch & Lomb Inc. expects to win approval early next year for a wavefront system it developed with the Center for Visual Sciences at the University of Rochester, N.Y. The main component of such systems is a device called an "aberrometer" that beams light through the eye and takes thousands of measurements as it bounces back out, detecting imperfections in the visual system. That information is then used to guide the laser when it reshapes the eye.
Doctors working with the company say the results are impressive. Stephen Slade, director of VisionTexas, a clinic in Houston, says about 92 percent of the eyes treated in a clinical trial ended up with 20/20 vision or better without glasses. That compares with about 86 percent with traditional Lasik. Only half of the patients saw an increase in so-called higher-order aberrations that can cause effects like halos. In traditional Lasik, by contrast, such aberrations almost always increase.
Wavefront-guided Lasik, often called "custom Lasik," will likely cost more. Alcon Inc., the first laser company to win FDA approval, says it will increase the per-eye fee it charges doctors from $100 to $250, and clinics are likely to tack on additional fees, though intense competition among doctors has generally kept prices low.
Before choosing a doctor, people may want to call their local Better Business Bureau or state board of medical examiners to find out if any complaints have been lodged against a particular doctor or clinic.
Eye Surgery lasik Wavefront Guided Laser.
New eye surgery billed as less risky than Lasik
Author: Antonio Regalado
Eye doctors are getting set to market a new technology to the millions of near- and farsighted people who have thought about laser surgery but been scared off by stories of damaged eyes and procedures gone wrong.; Wall Street Journal
The technique, known as wavefront-guided laser eye surgery, not only reduces the most common side effects of standard laser procedures, including blurry night vision; it also offers patients higher chances of achieving 20/20 vision--or better. The Food and Drug Administration approved the first wavefront system in October, and with other companies close behind, the procedure is expected to become widely available by the middle of next year.
