LASIK has freed tens of millions of people worldwide from depending on corrective eyewear for good vision. The procedure offers a short surgery and quick recovery in the hands of a skilled LASIK surgeon. Advancements in laser technology have made this refractive surgery even more customizable. Bay Area LASIK and cornea specialist Mark Mandel, MD, explains All-Laser LASIK and Wavefront LASIK at Optima Eye.
Traditional LASIK Versus All-Laser LASIK
The way in which LASIK surgical techniques differ comes down to the LASIK flap, which folds back to give the excimer laser access to the underlying corneal tissues to reshape the clear dome and improve eyesight. The traditional LASIK surgery creates this flap manually, with the surgeon cutting into the cornea with a microkeratome blade.
All-Laser LASIK uses femtosecond laser technology controlled by a computer with unique software updated with the highest technology to create the flap. This blade-free approach to the corneal flap offers unparalleled safety and a tighter seal when the flap is placed back over the cornea when the procedure is finished. The corneal bed and flap stick together for a firmer junction because no metal blade touches the eye.
The all-laser, blade-free LASIK technique is completely customized to your corneal anatomy with the IntraLase and Ziemer Z-4 femtosecond laser platforms utilized by Mark Mandel, MD. This technique offers a more flexible and personalized approach to laser vision correction and has been used for more than 15 years.
LASIK with Wavefront-Guided Lasers
Excimer lasers have long been used for LASIK and PRK to correct common visual aberrations, including farsightedness, nearsightedness and astigmatism. However, other distortions may exist that affect your vision quality, making it more difficult to see at night due to a large pupil or other issues. Mark Mandel, MD, only uses lasers that perform wavefront-optimized and wavefront-guided LASIK to deliver 20/20 or better eyesight with fewer higher-order aberrations such as glare, light halos, starbursts around lights and decreased contrast.
Mark Mandel, MD, uses the Allegretto Wave® Eye-Q, which customizes LASIK and the VISX S4 Smooth Scan that tracks your pupil’s movement during the procedure. Many patients worry they will not be able to focus on the blinking light during LASIK, and both the VISX S4 and the Allegretto Wave® Eye-Q eliminate that problem because it records your eye movement faster than the laser can fire and before the eye can move to ensure the laser is fired directly at the eye’s center.
Contact Optima Eye About All-Laser LASIK
If you would like to know more about all-laser LASIK with wavefront-guided technology, we encourage you to schedule a personal consultation with Bay Area cornea and LASIK specialist Mark Mandel, MD. Contact Optima Eye by emailing us or calling 877-210-2020 ext. 3 today.