What’s Behind the LASIK Technology?

Today, millions of people worldwide enjoy the benefits of restored vision through laser vision correction¹, commonly known as Lasik. However, did you know there are other laser vision correction technologies apart from Lasik?

For those of you who are thinking of correcting your vision, you will be assured to know that the technologies that we use today have come a long way since the first vision correction method was discovered.

A Discovery That Started It All

Did you know that LASIK actually stands for Laser-Assisted In-Situ Keratomileusis? Keratomileusis may sound complicated, but it’s actually a Greek word that means carving the cornea. The invention of Keratomileusis marked the beginning of the development of the LASIK technology that we know today.

Keratomileusis was the first technology in the world that could correct myopia (aka short-sightedness), and it involves slicing part of the cornea to alter its shape^2a.

Barraquer’s Vision – Where It All Began

This technology was first developed in Columbia by Spanish ophthalmologist, Professor José Ignacio Barraquer who was fed up with glasses and wanted a solution to correct poor vision^2b. Since then, this technique was further developed, due to the subsequent introduction of excimer laser technology, leading to more precise ways of reshaping the cornea and eventually leading on to the LASIK³ procedure as we know it today.

A Serendipitous Discovery

Did you know this technique was discovered accidentally? Russian ophthalmologist, Svyatoslav N. Fyodorov, first discovered Radial Keratotomy⁵ while he was attending to a young myopic boy suffering from corneal injuries caused by glass fragments. To save the boy’s sight, he made incisions extending in a radial pattern in the boy’s eye. This process of removing the glass pieces changed the boy’s cornea shape and had the unintentional effect of correcting the boy’s myopia and improving his vision significantly.

Excimer Laser to Photorefractive Keratotomy (PRK)

Ophthalmologist Stephen Trokel approached three researchers in New York’s IBM ® Thomas J. Watson Research Center, who were then exploring potential uses of the excimer laser⁷, to develop an excimer laser-based refractive technology.

With the researchers’ findings, Stephen Trokel invented Photorefractive Keratectomy (PRK)⁸ together with Ronald Krueger. This marked the leap from using surgical blades to using lasers in eye surgeries, making the procedure safer, less invasive and more precise.

A Star is Born – Laser In-Situ Keratomileusis (LASIK)

After the discovery of PRK, Gholam A Peyman was granted the patent of Laser In-Situ Keratomileusis (LASIK), which combines the technique of first creating a hinged corneal flap with the subsequent use of excimer laser ablation as in PRK⁹ but now under the protection of a flap. Among all the vision correction procedures, Lasik remains the most well-known to people all over the world even till today.

However, as the top layer of the cornea is removed in PRK, the recovery is slower and more uncomfortable¹¹. Therefore, it became less popular after the LASIK was introduced¹².

Uncovering The Potential of The Femtosecond Laser

A femtosecond is one-millionth of one billionth of a second. Femtosecond lasers emit optical pulses that are the shortest, densest and most powerful bursts of energy that can be produced in a laboratory¹³.

Here’s another accidental discovery – an engineering student in the Michigan Engineering’s Center for Ultrafast Optical Science (CUOS) accidentally burned his eye with a femtosecond laser. Ophthalmologist Ronald Kurtz was amazed when he examined the student as the burns caused by the laser turned out to be more like cuts than burns, and that the laser was so precise that it did not affect the student’s vision. The incident made Ronald Kurtz and laser physicist, Tibor Juhasz, realise the unique properties and potential of the femtosecond laser, which lead to the invention of all-laser LASIK¹⁴.

Advancement of LASIK to All-laser LASIK

In traditional LASIK, a corneal flap is created with a blade¹⁵. Instead of using the blade, the femtosecond laser now creates the corneal flap by breaking cells apart¹⁶ in a more precise fashion.

Today, many ophthalmologists opt for procedures that use the femtosecond laser technology as it is safer and more precise. This also means that there are lesser complications, and that the procedure can be customised to your needs¹⁷.

The discovery of femtosecond laser also led to the development of ZEISS SMILE® (Small incision lenticule extraction)¹⁸ – the most recent laser vision correction technology introduced in 2006. Like LASIK, ZEISS SMILE® permanently changes the cornea shape to correct refractive powers and minimise or potentially eliminate the need for glasses or contact lenses.

However, as ZEISS SMILE® only requires a small incision instead of a corneal flap, there are reduced complications as compared to conventional LASIK methods¹⁹. Today, ZEISS SMILE® eye surgery is increasing in popularity globally²⁰ due to its faster wound recovery and propensity to incur minimal pain.

Your Next Step to Better Vision

More than 10 million people in the world have had laser vision correction done since LASIK was first approved by the FDA in 1991. They say that the best gift is the gift of sight, and many have realised what the investment in restored vision could bring.

If you are seeking to correct refractive disorders such as myopia (nearsightedness), hyperopia (farsightedness), astigmatism and presbyopia, why not take your next step to see better today?