What is it?

McGlothan Eye Institute is proud to offer IntraLase to our patients. All laser LASIK is the latest technological breakthrough in LASIK. Now we can perform an all laser LASIK procedure. Laser Vision Correction is often associated solely with the Excimer laser, but there are actually two very important steps in correcting your vision:

1. Creating a very thin flap of tissue that is folded back during treatment.

2. Reshaping the exposed surface with the Excimer laser and replacing the flap.

Until now, the flap has been created with a mechanical, bladed device called a microkeratome. With the bladed style microkeratome there was an increased risk of complications such as corneal abrasions, irregular flaps, as well as button-hole flaps. All laser LASIK offers our patients increased safety by eliminating the blade.

Advantages of All Laser LASIK
1. Increased Safety:

Because there is no variability in blade quality with the all laser LASIK procedure, there is little or no risk of flap irregularities. The all laser approach allows our surgeons at McGlothan Eye Institute to design the flap specifically to your eyes and visual needs.

3. Less Invasive

All laser LASIK is a much less invasive procedure than traditional LASIK. With traditional LASIK, the flap was created with a device that was fashioned after a carpenter's plane. As it glided across the cornea it was possible to create an abrasion on the front of the eye. Patients experienced quite a bit of pain as this abrasion healed. With all laser LASIK, our surgeons pass the laser through the cornea and create small bubbles at a preprogrammed depth without applying friction to the front layer of the eye, a much more comfortable approach for a patient.

IntraLASIK® software directs the IntraLase® FS Laser to optically focus its beam into a tiny, 3 micron spot of energy that passes harmlessly through the outer layers of the cornea until reaching its exact focal point within the stroma (central layer of the cornea). The Intralase® laser allows for optimal focus.

In an "inside out" process, the laser beam creates a dissection plane by forming an interconnecting series of bubbles (made of carbon dioxide and water vapor). The Intralase® laser beam stacks a pattern of bubbles along the periphery of the ablation plane, leaving an uncut section of tissue to act as a hinge. As with a traditional LASIK approach, the surgeon then folds the tissue back to expose the underlying corneal layer to prepare for the excimer laser treatment that will re-shape the cornea. Please ask one of our surgeons or friendly staff members about Intralase® by calling our office at: 812.478.5550.