What is "all-laser" LASIK?

In "all-laser" LASIK, the corneal flap is created with a laser rather than a bladed microkeratome.

The laser used to create the flap is a different type of laser than the laser used to reshape the cornea in LASIK. So in all-laser LASIK, two separate lasers are used to complete the procedure.

The laser used to create the flap is called a femtosecond laser. It delivers ultra-short pulses of energy to separate corneal tissue by breaking cell bonds and producing microscopic gas bubbles at a computer-specified depth.

How short is "ultra-short"? A femtosecond is one-billionth of one-millionth of a second. For context, a femtosecond is to a second what a second is to about 32 million years. (No, we're not making this up!)

Today's modern femtosecond (FS) lasers for creating flaps in LASIK surgery operate at a speed of 60 kilohertz (kHz), which means they deliver approximately 60,000 laser pulses per second.

Using a femtosecond laser rather than a bladed microkeratome to create corneal flaps in LASIK reduces the risk of certain flap-related complications. It also allays the fears most patients have about a blade being used on their eyes.

Because (until recently) IntraLase Corp (Irvine, CA) has been the only company that manufactures an FDA-approved FS laser for LASIK surgery, all-laser LASIK is sometimes called "IntraLASIK."

Last updated: February, 2010