Many patients with nearsightedness, farsightedness, or astigmatism want to be free of the limitations of corrective lenses. Many patients enjoy swimming, diving, skiing and other athletic endeavors where wearing glasses or contacts is inconvenient or impossible. Some patients elect to have laser surgery for occupational reasons, while others feel visually and socially limited in their every day activities.

excimer laser is the type of laser that is used to modify or shape the front surface of the eye in order to make people see better without glasses or contact lenses. There are other types of lasers used in ophthalmology, such as the Argon laser which is used to treat diabetic retinopathy, and the Yag laser, which is used to treat membranes within the eye.

The laser treatment is painless. However, you may experience some ocular discomfort, "scratchiness", and tearing during the first 24 hours after PRK or LASEK surgery. It will gradually resolve by the second and third days. You will be given painkillers and sedatives to ease the pain and discomfort. If LASIK is done, eye discomfort usually dissipates in less than 12 hours; painkillers are not necessary.

It is not advisable to have excimer laser surgery if one is pregnant. Changes in the shape of the cornea may occur during pregnancy, which may affect the result of the treatment. Excimer laser surgery itself is not known to harm the unborn baby.

The VISX CAP method uses a proprietary beam-shaping module to narrow and redirect the scanning array of the STAR S2 for more precise ablation patterns. Excimer Laser Surgery is an outpatient treatment that uses a cool beam of light to gently reshape the surface of the eye - the cornea - thereby improving vision. LASIK is the most advanced vision correction procedure available today. Doctors have been routinely treating refractive vision errors with incisions for over 25 years.

In the past many people have gone to Canada for laser eye surgery thinking that they have a technology advantage. In 2000 we were part of a multi-center study that tracked outcomes in tens of thousands of eyes treated by very experienced surgeons in several centers in the United States and Canada. The data actually revealed that our outcomes here were one to four percent better in every category of refractive error when compared to patients in the Canadian centers.

The excimer laser was developed at IBM, and was used to etch computer microchips. Its extreme precision with negligible damage to adjacent tissue made it a very attractive tool for other applications, and in 1983, Stephen L. Trokel, M.D., in cooperation with R. Srinivasan, a physicist, applied it to corneal tissue in a New York laboratory. The first sighted eye was treated with the excimer laser on January 14, 1987.

PRK, LASEK, and LASIK are usually done to correct distance vision. If done on a patient 40 years old and older, he/she will most likely need reading glasses. However, the ability to functionally read without glasses can be achieved by leaving one eye nearsighted and fully correcting the other eye. This is known as "monovision" or "blended vision". Your doctor will discuss these options with you.

There are several excimer laser manufacturers, and they all claim their laser is the best. VISX controls about 70% of the market share with Summit Technologies taking up most of the remainder. Other manufacturers include Chiron (B&L), NIDEK, Aesculap-Meditec, LaserSight, Novatec, Autonomous (a wholly owned subsidiary of Summit Technologies), and Coherent-Schwind.

The excimer laser was developed at IBM in 1976, and was used to etch computer microchips. Its extreme precision with negligible damage to adjacent tissue made it a very attractive tool for other applications, and in 1983, Stephen L. Trokel, M.D., in cooperation with R. Srinivasan, a physicist, applied it to corneal tissue in a New York laboratory. The first sighted eye was treated with the excimer laser at LSU on January 14, 1987.

Some surgeons use a micro laser to assist in the reconnection of the vas. Early in his reversal experience, Dr. Finnerty performed some reversals using this technique. In the laser technique, several sutures are placed to approximate the ends of the vas. A laser is then used to “spot-weld” the vas together, sealing only the outer layer. The laser cannot be used to align the inner layer of the vas. The problem with this approach is the poor alignment of the inner lumen of the vas.

Laser surgery is performed in your eye care professional's office or eye clinic. Before the surgery, he or she will: apply drops to numb the eye. In some cases, he or she also may numb the area behind the eye to prevent any discomfort. The lights in the office will be dim. As you sit facing the laser machine, your eye care professional will hold a special lens to your eye. You may see flashes of light.