Clearview Eye and Laser Medical Center
Monday, October 22, 2007
The Safety of IntraLase
Since traditional LASIK was approved by the FDA in the mid-1990s, other refractive procedures have been developed as alternatives. IntraLase is one of them. It’s the only refractive vision correction which uses no blade of any kind. Instead, it uses a second laser.
The first step in laser vision correction, whether it’s LASIK or any of the alternatives, is to somehow expose the tissue below the corneal surface for the laser to work on it. Most procedures make a small flap on the surface and fold it back out of the way. When the laser work is finished, the flap is replaced and heals by itself. Most procedures create the flap using a blade of some kind, but IntraLase uses its second laser.
It’s known as a femtosecond laser, referring to a femtosecond, which is a quadrillionth of a second. It is an ultra-fast laser emitting light in ultra-short pulses. Such short pulses are too short to cause any damage to the eyes. It creates microscopic bubbles beneath the corneal surface, loosening the bonds between cells, so that the surface tissue can be easily lifted.
The U.S. Air Force has approved IntraLase for its pilots and NASA approved Intralase for its astronauts after extensive study. Astronauts deal with very physically stressful conditions in space, but NASA decided that the excellent safety of IntraLase made it allowable. The eye heals very well after Intralase. At our Clearview Eye and Laser Medical Center here in San Diego, we offer LASIK, Intralase, and other excellent alternatives for vision correction.
Labels: LASIK, vision correction
posted by JennyK at 3:04 PM
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