The Three Types of Lasik Eye Surgery

Three types of LASIK surgery

Custom Wavefront LASIK

This LASIK surgery is also simply called Wavefront LASIK or Wavefront-guided LASIK. The way the eyes focuses on rays of light is measured, then a map that is 3-D is created to show the irregularities in this process. These measurements are used to maneuver the laser while it corrects the shape of the cornea. It allows the surgery to give each individual eye the best possible treatment because the laser will be programmed for its specific issue.

This not only applies from patient to patient, but from eye to eye. The left and right eye of a patient can be different as well. Wavefront LASIK can help to correct mild to moderately severe vision problems including near sightedness, far sightedness, and astigmatism. While these eye problems can be fixed with traditional LASIK, contacts or glasses, there are many problems in which there was no solution before wavefront and technologies related to it, came along.

Epi-LASIK

This surgery involves a specially designed tool that removes the outer layer of the cornea. It is a hybrid of the LASIK and LASEK surgeries, but it is also different in is own right. LASIK surgery involves cutting a flap on the cornea with a laser or blade, which runs the risk of making the flap too thin or thick. LASEK uses a fine blade to cut the outer layer of the cornea into a thin sheet that stays as a hinge on the eye. The difference is that Epi-LASIK uses a plastic oscillating blunt blade.

Another difference of Epi-LASIK is that to loosen the top sheet of the cornea, an epithelial separator is used instead of alcohol. This removes the risk of an adverse reaction to the alcohol, which can kill epithelial cells.

IntraLase “Bladeless” LASIK

With this LASIK surgery a second laser is used instead of the cutting mechanical tool that is used in traditional LASIK. In its place there are two different kinds of laser used. First the femtosecond laser is used to make a hinged, thin flap that is temporarily taken from the eye. Then the excimer laser is used on the exposed eye to reshape the cornea, and repair the irregularities. Just as in all LASIK surgeries, the flap is then repositioned to work as a natural protector and to provide more comfort during the healing process.