Spectacles and contact lenses are
only two methods of correcting refractive errors. Ophthalmologists
have for long struggled to develop a more permanent way of treating
refractive errors. While a myriad variety of procedures have been
developed to treat refractive errors, the safest, most effective
and most popular method by far is LASIK performed with the Excimer Laser. In special circumstances, you
may be better suited to other vision correction procedures, like
PRK or LASEK. All New Vision centres offer all these procedures,
and your New Vision Doctor will help you make the right choice.
In LASIK, the refractive error is corrected by appropriately reshaping the
cornea to change its curvature, and hence, its focusing power. The
Excimer Laser is used to perform this reshaping, by appropriately
removing microscopic amounts of tissue. The excimer laser was originally
developed to etch microchips. Soon, its ability to precisely sculpt
human tissue, particularly corneal tissue, was uncovered. The Excimer
laser is a cool laser, which does not heat corneal tissue. It breaks
inter-molecular bonds within 0.5 microns of corneal tissue, leading
to that tissue getting removed from the cornea. It leaves behind
extremely smooth surfaces.
All New Vision Laser Centers use
state-of-the-art Excimer Laser technology from Asclepion-Meditec (www.asclepion.com) of Germany.
The 193 nm Excimer Laser light, controlled with computer precision,
gently pulses to remove a microscopic amount of tissue from specific
areas of the cornea. This changes the curvature of the cornea, allowing
images to be more sharply focused on the retina.
The beam of light vaporizes microscopic amounts of tissue as it
breaks inter bonds. Each pulse of the laser removes .25 microns
of tissue or 1/39 millionths of an inch. This allows the cornea
to be re-sculpted into a more desirable shape, gently and precisely.
The excimer laser is used for a
variety of corneal surgical purposes, of which the most common is
corneal reshaping for the correction of refractive errors. It is
also successfully used to treat corneal diseases and has helped
the partially blind and blind recover their sight. The excimer laser,
thus has the potential to change the landscape of ophthalmology,
especially in terms of refractive corrections.
Click here to know more about LASIK.
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