Treatment Using Custom Ablations

Serving the Greater Los Angeles Area

Coming from: Beverly Hills, Santa Monica, Pasadena, Orange County, Ventura County

Treatment using custom ablations (customized surgical vaporizations using a laser) can take many forms, but they are all variations of the familiar LASIK (Laser-Assisted in Situ Keratomileusis) procedure.

Custom Ablations Technology
The basic way that custom ablations work is that they use wavefront technology (customized mapping of the optic irregularities of a patient's cornea) as a guide for the custom laser ablations. Wavefront sensing utilizes a straightforward technique for determining visual errors. The patient stares at a visual field and focuses on something. While focusing, a light beam is sent into the eye. After the light hits the back of the eye and is reflected back, the wavefront machine creates a map of where the light rays end up after leaving the eye. From the map that is made, the surgeon can determine what is happening within the eye. This advanced method of mapping the eye looks at nearly 2,000 data points compared with only a few data points with previous technology. Because of this the patient’s eye is mapped out in much more detail.

Custom Ablations in LASIK
Combining custom ablations with LASIK has created a more detailed procedure called custom LASIK. In traditional LASIK laser vision correction surgery, a flap is created in the cornea using a microkeratome (a precision surgical instrument with an oscillating blade designed for creating the corneal flap) blade and using a laser to reshape the underlying cornea in order to correct vision problems such as myopia (nearsightedness), hyperopia, or astigmatism (an irregularly shaped eye causing blurred or double vision). Using custom ablations, the LASIK procedure is enhanced because the wavefront map is used to correct the lower order aberrations (such as myopia, hyperopia, and astigmatism) as well as other vision distortions knows as higher order aberrations. Because of this LASIK patients who undergo LASIK with custom ablations may have better laser vision correction surgery results.

Other Laser Surgery Options Which Use Custom Ablations

• IntraLase (also known as Intra-LASIK, all-laser LASIK, blade-free LASIK, or bladeless LASIK) – this procedure is the same as traditional LASIK except that instead of using a blade to cut the corneal flap, it uses a special laser to create the flap.
• PRK (Photorefractive Keratectomy) – a procedure involving the removal of the surface layer of the cornea (epithelium) by gentle scraping and using a computer-controlled excimer (combination of excited and dimer—a pseudo molecule which emits ultraviolet light when in an excited state) laser to reshape the cornea
• LASEK (Laser Epithelial Keratomileusis) - a laser eye surgery procedure which is a hybrid of PRK and LASIK. The goal of LASEK is to preserve the corneal epithelium (the outer layer on top of the cornea) or flap. Rather than creating a corneal flap with a microkeratome blade (as in LASIK) or scraping and removing the patient’s epithelium (as in PRK), LASEK treats the epithelium with alcohol to loosen and separate it from the corneal tissue and it is then rolled back. The laser treatment is then applied to the cornea. After the laser vision correction is finished, the epithelium layer is then rolled back over the exposed corneal tissue and heals quickly, similar to LASIK.
• Epi-LASEK - Epi-LASIK is the same laser eye surgery procedure as LASIK except that in Epi-LASIK the flap is cut so thin that it doesn’t actually penetrate the cornea. The advantages of both types of LASIK are that the flap acts as a natural bandage when it is replaced.

There are many laser vision correction procedures which use custom ablations. Please consult with a qualified ophthalmologist such as Dr. Davidorf to see which procedure is recommended for you.

Call us today at 818-883-0112 or fill out our online form to schedule a Custom Ablations procedure consultation. If you are not a candidate for laser vision correction with a custom ablations procedure, but are still interested in high quality vision without glasses or contact lenses, your eyes may be better suited for lens implant procedures.