LASIK by Lahners

Center For Sight's Medical Director, William J. Lahners, M.D., leads the way in LASIK technology. He was the first surgeon on the West Coast of Florida to perform blade-free LASIK with the IntraLase® and ALLEGRETTO WAVE lasers. Dr. Lahners is board certified and fellowship trained in LASIK, and has performed more LASIK procedures than any other doctor in the region.

Enjoy Visual Freedom From Glasses & Contact Lenses 

Dr. Lahners has more experience with the IntraLase laser than any other surgeon on this coast and was the exclusive provider of this technology for several years. Using the combination of the IntraLase and ALLEGRETTO WAVE lasers, Dr. Lahners performs all-laser, blade-free LASIK.

Advantages of Blade-Free LASIK

Improved Safety: Eliminates the most severe microkeratome-related complications, including invasive corneal incisions and button-hole flaps.

Better Vision: Patients achieve statistically better vision when IntraLase is used in the LASIK procedure in comparison with the microkeratome. More patients achieved 20/20 vision, and those with a preference preferred the post-operative vision of their IntraLase treated eye 3-to-1.

Highest Degree of Predictability and Precision: Micron-level precision creates significantly more predictable and accurate flap dimensions, including most critically, reproducible flap thickness, within +/- 10 microns, whereas variability with microkeratomes has been reported up to +/- 40 microns. This increased precision preserves valuable corneal tissue and improves the predictability of the LASIK treatment.

Fewer Re-Treatments: The number of LASIK re-treatments (or enhancements) is significantly lower for laser-created corneal flaps, avoiding the patient inconvenience of subsequent surgeries and the increased surgeon costs entailed with re-operations.

Reduced Dry Eye Symptoms: In several clinical studies, standard tests performed to diagnose dry eye show a significant reduction in symptoms, the largest of which shows patient symptoms were reduced by 72 percent.

Individualized Flaps: The laser flap can be tailored to the individual patient's needs, allowing physicians to individualize all steps in the LASIK procedure: custom diagnosis with wavefront, personalized flap creation with IntraLase and custom laser treatment with custom ablation.

How LASIK Works

The LASIK procedure involves two steps: making a flap and reshaping the cornea with the Excimer laser. At Center For Sight, we use the sophisticated IntraLase Laser to make the flap and the ALLEGRETTO WAVE laser with wavefront technology to reshape the cornea. This combination makes every LASIK procedure performed at Center For Sight an ALL-LASER, BLADE-FREE procedure.

Making the Flap: With IntraLase
 
Unlike the microkeratome blade which cuts across the cornea to create the flap, IntraLase never touches the outer cornea at all. Rather, it creates the flap using an "inside-out" process which virtually eliminates severe sight-threatening complications.

• The INTRALASE® FS laser uses an infrared beam of light to create the flap from below the surface of the cornea.
• The beam of laser light is focused to a precise point within the stroma (central layer of the cornea) where it forms a string of tiny 2- to 3-micron bubbles.
• Thousands of these microscopic bubbles are precisely positioned to define the flap's dimensions and beveled edge, as well as location of the hinge.
• Bubbles are then stacked along the edge of the flap up to the corneal surface to complete the flap.
• The process from start to finish takes approximately 45 seconds.
• The surgeon then lifts the flap to allow for treatment by the Excimer laser. When treatment is complete, the flap is accurately repositioned, thanks to its beveled edge.

With IntraLase, the surgeon can precisely control the critical first step of LASIK. Pre-programmed specifications include flap diameter, depth, width, hinge location and side-cut architecture - factors which may vary by patient. IntraLase flaps also feature a distinctive beveled edge, which allows for precise repositioning of the flap after LASIK is completed. This ability to personalize specific parameters is impossible with a microkeratome or other hand-held bladed instrument.

IntraLase is the most sophisticated and accurate technology for corneal flap creation available today, and has given patients greater confidence in choosing vision correction surgery. The higher degree of assurance and safety, virtually no risk of severe sight-threatening complications and more predictable outcomes have been shown to increase patient satisfaction in their LASIK experience and outcome.

High Performance Vision with the Allegretto Wave Laser

The ALLEGRETTO WAVE laser features a unique approach to corneal sculpting. The normal curve of a healthy cornea is higher in the center, or prolate. Most laser systems flatten the central area to create an oblate-shaped cornea. This shape causes spherical aberration, which can reduce the quality of vision, especially at night, and often produces glare or halos.

The ALLEGRETTO WAVE laser is used to treat the central and peripheral area of the cornea. It uses a proprietary system to adjust to the aspheric shape of the cornea and to reshape the cornea based on the front, or prolate curve. This is the main reason for the excellent quality of both day and night vision it produces in patients.

Epi-LASEK

Epi-LASEK is the procedure of choice for patients that are not good candidates for LASIK because of certain eye surface conditions such as thin corneas or ocular conditions that prevent the safe creation of the type of corneal flap used in LASIK. The main advantage of Epi-LASEK is its simplicity. The results are identical to LASIK except that the healing time is an extra few days.

In Epi-LASEK, the eye is numbed and the ALLEGRETTO WAVE laser is then used to sculpt the cornea. A special soft contact lens is placed on the eye until the surface layer has healed-usually in four to six days.

Make The Clear Choice

Schedule a FREE consultation at Center For Sight to determine if you would benefit from this exciting new blade free LASIK technology. To speak with a counselor, or to schedule your appointment, please call 877-354-4442 from 8am-10pm Mon-Fri and Noon-6pm Sat & Sun.

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