Modern Eye Correction Techniques
When it comes to corrective eye surgery. Lasik is the most popular. And as it may be known, the Lasik procedure involves making a thin corneal flap with an instrument called microkeratome. The microkeratome makes a thin comeal flap with a hinge on one side. Once the flap is made, it is folded on one side and then the ablation is performed in the deeper layers of the cornea. The flap is then placed back in its original position.
The Lasik procedure involves minimal risk and the main risk . is in the creation of the flap. But in good hands, this risk is just between one and two per cent. The advancements in the Lasik procedure involves advances in the following:
- Flap Fashioning
- Ablation Procedure
- Customized Lasik
- Presby Lasik
Flap Fashioning
The U.S. FDA has approved the use of the femtosecond laser to create the flap. So, instead of a mechanical device being used to create the flap, we have the option of a laser to create a more precise Hap. This is particularly useful for thin corneas and irregular corneas.
Ablation Procedure
The ablation procedure has got faster with high frequency lasers which involves faster laser delivery. This minimizes the stress for the patient as well as minimizes the risk of decentration of treatments.
Customized Lasik
Among the most advance laser technologies, custom Lasik is very prominent. This laser technology treatment is based upon specific visual traits of the eye and uses a specific laser technology called wavefront. It measures the overall eye including the front and back and creates a three dimensional (3D) image. The laser treatment of your visual system is guided by the information contained in the wavefront map.
Custom Lasik is a ground-breaking technology that has the full potential to improve the acuity of vision as well as the quality of sight. (The visual acuity measured by the standard 20/20 Snellen eye chart).
Higher order and lower order aberrations measures the acuity of your sight. Lower order aberration can also be termed as refractive errors (for example farsightedness near sightedness and astigmatism) and conventional Lasik can treat these errors. But higher order aberrations are different and up to a great extent, how well you see depends upon it.
Higher order aberration can cause irregularities that create problems like lower contrast sensitivity, halos or shadows, and glare. Custom Lasik treat both higher order and lower order aberrations. Wavefront Lasik has several powerful advantages and some of them are as follows:
- Potential to achieve 20,20 vision sans glasses.
- Minimizes the chances of losing best-spectade corrected vision.
- Potentially minimizes the chances of losing quality of your sight and contrast sensitivity.
- Lesser chances of getting visual disturbance at night.
- Reduces the chances of suffering untoward side-effects.
VISX CustomVue WaveScan
Excimer laser technology guided by Wavefront. The U.S. FDA has approved this laser technology for use in the treatment of astigmatism and near sightedness.
This system comprises of a WaveScan Wavefront device and Star S4 laser. And for the first time this technology empowered surgeons with the ability to detect measure and rectify visual irregulanties that were impossible before.
The clinical trial in the U.S. FDA was quite successful where 94 per cent of the patients who had undergone through this procedure, acquired 20/20 or better visual acuity. Also, the participants expressed quite satisfactory remarks about their night vision improvement following VISX CustomVue as compared to night vision they had with glasses and contacts.
PresbyLasik Or Multifocal Lasik One of the foremost advance types of laser vision correction technology is Presby Lasik or Multifocal Lasik. It has the power to change the shape of the eyes’ cornea and create different power zones to make one see an object at varying distance.
By creating several power zones on the front surface of the eye, it enables one to see simultaneously through different zones. Thus it provides a near, intermediate and distance vision at the same time.
For presbyopic eyes, the only currently available FDA approved Lasik procedure provides monovision. This means, one eye is corrected for better distance vision and the other eye is corrected to enhance near vision. However, many people cannot adapt to this kind of sight which can cause problems such as loss of depth perception.