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The first step with LASIK is to have a thin corneal
flap made to reveal the tissue that will be reshaped
to correct nearsightedness, farsightedness, or astigmatism.
There are two main methods to create a corneal flap;
a microkeratome with a metal blade, or a femto second
laser such as the VisuMax. The creation of the corneal
flap with the VisuMax is very fast and takes approximately
20 to 30 seconds, while the complete LASIK procedure
may take approximately 15 minutes.
 Flap
creation with the VisuMax is a completely bladeless
procedure. A very accurately focused laser beam is guided
through to the cornea in a computerized treatment that
is unique to each patient. The laser beam moves across
and through the cornea, creating a layer of very tiny
bubbles under its path. These bubbles quickly disappear,
and the tissue above the bubbles becomes the corneal
flap that can be easily lifted by your surgeon.
Everyone has a curved cornea. Nature often provides
us with the best answers, and the VisuMax features a
unique, curved contact glass to maximize patient comfort.
This technology allows for the patient to maintain visual
sight during the entire procedure. This is possible
since the curved contact interface attaches to the cornea
during the treatment and the cornea is only slightly
flattened, which prevents unnecessarily high intraocular pressure and stress to the eye.
This provides maximum comfort and allows you to see throughout the entire
procedure, unlike with micro keratomes or other femto second lasers,
where your vision is "blacked out" for awhile and patients have reported
feeling uncomfortable pressure. Patients often describe the VisuMax
procedure like the insertion of a soft contact lens.
Due to the Zeiss high performance optics, the laser beam is guided very
precisely to the desired depth, resulting in most accurate flap thickness.
In addition, the laser beam is directed in a very focused manner, which
allows the doctor to apply only minimum laser energy to the eye during
the treatment. As a result, the tissue outside the defined area of the
cut remains untouched.
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