INTRALASE LASIK Technology
The IntraLase method for a blade-free Lasik experience
we are step one
Two steps of Lasik
The laser flap
Greater safety
Improved vision
FAQsIntralase method for a Blade-Free Lasik Experience
We know that the decision to have a Lasik Surgery is a big one, so we take great care to determine what's best for you as our patient that's why we offer a Blade-Free Lasik treatment using the Intralase method.
With the Intralase Method, pulses of laser light create your corneal flap, which is then lifted so the next step of Lasik-the Reshaping of your cornea- can be performed.
When your Lasik treatment is over, the flap is securely re-positioned into place.This Bladeless, computer-guided technology is 100% more accurate than most of the mechanical Microkeratomes (hand-held device with a thin metal blade) that surgeon may also use to create a corneal flap.
Intralase assurance and comfort:
The IntraLase method has been used successfully on hundred of thousands of eyes and we trust this advanced technology to deliver exceptional results.
Our commitment is to provide you with the ultimate in comfort, safety and outstanding vision.LASIK with Intralase can help you achieve all of this - while it delivers the added assurance of knowing you're being treated with the most advanced technology there is.
Lasik performed with Intralase is preferred by patients
In a survey of clinical practices, the vision in the intralase-treated eye was preferred up to 3 to 1 by patients over the vision in the mechanical blade-treated eye (among these who stated a preference).
LASIK performed with Intralase delivers Superior Visual Results:
In a clinical study comparing the Intralase Laser to the Leading Microkeratome, more patients achieved 20/20 vision or better in standard and custom Lasik Surgery when the Intralase Method was used to create the corneal flap.
How the Intralase Method Works?
Unlike mechanical instruments, Intralase technology is uniquely able to program the dimensions of your flap based on what's best for your eye. Then the Intralase Laser creates your flap from below the surface of the cornea - without ever cutting it. How?
• Ultra-fast pulses of laser light position microscopic bubbles at a precise depth determined by your doctor.
• The laser light passes harmlessly through your cornea. Then the laser creates rows of these bubbles just beneath your corneal surface as it moves back and forth across your eye in a uniform plane.
• Next, the Intralase Laser stacks bubbles around your corneal diameter to create the edges of your flap. These bubbles are stacked at an angle that is determined by your doctor and is individualized to the way your eye is shaped.
• The process takes only about 30 seconds from the start to finish. It's quite and it is comfortable.
• Your doctor then gently lifts the flap to allow for the second step of your Lasik treatment. When treatment is complete, the flap easily "Locks" back into position and rapidly begins to heal.
Because of the superior accuracy of the Intralase Method, certain patients who were in illegible for Lasik may now be able to have treatment. Ask your doctor today if you are a candidate.
We are Setp One:
Every LASIK eye surgery starts with Step One—the creation of a corneal flap. Doctors have traditionally performed Step One using a hand-held device with an oscillating metal blade, called a microkeratome. Results were considered good.But that was before IntraLase.
IntraLase makes Step One your first step to all that better vision brings by replacing the hand-held microkeratome blade with a silent, computer-guided laser. Why? Because with the precision of the laser, you can now have greater assurance of a safer procedure and an excellent result.
All of which is why IntraLase makes LASIK surgery better.
Two Steps of LASIK
There are two important steps to LASIK eye surgery.In Step One, your doctor creates a micro-thin flap of tissue on the outer layer of your eye, also known as the cornea. The flap is important for rapid healing, greater comfort and better vision. If it is too thick, too thin, or irregular, it could affect the quality of your vision. Although complications with LASIK surgery are rare, when they do occur, they are often associated with the use of a hand-held microkeratome blade in Step One.
IntraLase makes LASIK surgery better by replacing your doctor’s hand-held microkeratome blade with a computer-guided laser that delivers micron-level accuracy over 100 percent greater than a microkeratome.* This gives you the greater assurance you need that Step One of LASIK eye surgery will be accurate, safe and a first step towards giving you the best LASIK result possible.
In Step Two, your doctor folds open the flap so that an excimer laser can be used on the inner cornea to correct your vision. Your flap is then returned to its original position where it seals without stitches.
Create the corneal flap. Reshape the cornea.
Step One is important to faster healing, greater comfort and better vision.
The INTRALASE® laser is a more precise and safer method for creating the flap in Step One and is an essential component to making both standard and custom LASIK surgeries better.
Every Cornea is Different
Every corneal flap is different, too. But there are certain characteristics that every flap must have, including precise diameter, centration and thickness, thereby setting the stage for your doctor to perform an excellent Step Two.
Traditionally, doctors have used a noisy mechanical procedure to create the flap. In this method, the doctor cuts across the cornea using a hand-held microkeratome with an oscillating blade. Achieving accurate depth, flap thickness, and centration on a curved cornea of varying dimension can be difficult with a microkeratome. The precision of this step is highly dependent upon the performance of the microkeratome device, which may be unpredictable despite a high degree of surgeon skill.
Creating the Laser Flap
The INTRALASE ® laser actually represents a breakthrough in the field of ultrafast laser science. Generating light pulses as short as one-quadrillionth of a second, femtosecond laser technology has opened new fields of scientific study and provided the basis of femtochemistry research that won the 1999 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
The use of the femtosecond laser in the field of ophthalmology was developed by a team of physicists, biomedical engineers and ophthalmologists at the Center for Ultrafast Optical Sciences and the Kellogg Eye Center of the University of Michigan.
The IntraLase ultrafast femtosecond laser is the first bladeless laser technology for performing Step One of LASIK and the most accurate technology for corneal flap creation available today. The laser uses an infrared beam of light to precisely separate tissue through a process called photodisruption. In this process, the focused laser pulses divide material at the molecular level without the transfer of heat or impact to the surrounding tissue.
- IntraLase creates the flap from below the surface of the cornea, using an "inside-out" process.
- The silent beam of laser light is focused to a precise point within the stroma (central layer of the cornea) where each pulse of the laser creates a tiny 2- to 3- micron bubble of carbon dioxide and water vapor.
- Thousands of these microscopic bubbles are precisely positioned to define the flap's dimensions, as well as the 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 repositioned.
With IntraLase, your doctor can create a corneal flap of exact diameter, depth, hinge location, centration, and overall architecture. Such accuracy and precision are nearly impossible in a hand-held blade.
TopIntraLase Makes LASIK Safer
LASIK surgery has a long history of safely and effectively improving vision and lessening patients’ dependence on glasses and contact lenses. IntraLase, however, knew that LASIK surgery wasn’t as safe and effective as it could be. The company responded with a breakthrough technology that replaces the mechanical microkeratome with a highly precise laser that works at the molecular level to separate tissue and create a superior corneal flap.
This innovation made sense. Lasers have a long history in medicine. In fact, the excimer laser used in Step Two of LASIK surgery has brought incredible safety and precision to eye surgery. One pulse of the excimer laser removes 0.25 microns of tissue, which is almost 300 times thinner than a typical human hair.*
Precision Technology for Safer LASIK SurgeryBy replacing the blade commonly used in Step One with a femtosecond laser, IntraLase has made LASIK eye surgery safer than ever before. IntraLase delivers micron-level accuracy 100 percent greater**** than a microkeratome for more accurate and consistent flap thickness, factors critical for a successful LASIK outcome.
International Medical Centre are safe and provide good results in LASIK eye surgery. The degree of accuracy achieved by the INTRALASE® laser, however, is unprecedented in flap creation technology. With IntraLase you now have the greater assurance you need that Step One of LASIK eye surgery will be the best it can be—more accurate, safer, and a first step towards getting you the best LASIK result possible.
TopMaking LASIK Better
IntraLase creates a flap of precise size, shape and depth. To achieve such precision, your doctor uses the laser to rapidly separate micro-thin layers of the cornea as he creates a self-sealing flap. It is all a part of an efficient process that helps to assure you that Step One of LASIK eye surgery will be accurate, safe and a first step towards giving you the best LASIK result possible.
Patients Support the IntraLase LaserIntraLase offers patients like you the assurance that only comes with precise laser technology. With no blades or blade-related complications to worry about, 78% of patients, when given a choice, chose to have Step One performed with the IntraLase laser over a hand-held microkeratome blade.***
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
A lot of patients have LASIK eye surgery for the same reasons. They want to be able to do as many things as possible without their glasses or contacts. Most people who have already had LASIK had many of the same questions you do.
Q: Why IntraLase?
A: LASIK (Laser Assisted In-Situ Keratomileusis) has proven to be a very successful procedure, freeing millions of the daily dependence on glasses and contact lenses. Yet, while LASIK complications are rare, all surgery carries some degree of risk. Now, advances in laser technology have made it possible to significantly reduce the majority of LASIK complications. This advancement is known as IntraLase.IntraLase is the first blade-free laser technology for performing the critical first step in the LASIK procedure: creating the corneal flap. Prior to IntraLase, this first step was done manually using a hand-held device with an oscillating metal razor blade, called a microkeratome.
IntraLase virtually eliminates the severe sight threatening complications seen with the microkeratome, improving safety and precision while providing predictably better visual results for the patient. IntraLase is the most sophisticated and accurate technology for corneal flap creation available today and has given many patients greater confidence and assurance in choosing laser vision correction.
Q: How does IntraLase change the LASIK procedure?
A: LASIK is actually a two-step process. In the first step, the surgeon creates a flap of corneal tissue and folds it back to prepare the eye for the second step, where an excimer laser is used on the inner cornea to correct vision. This two-step process allows for rapid visual recovery with little or no patient discomfort.Traditionally, the corneal flap was created with a hand-held microkeratome blade. While this method has worked well over the years, the performance of these devices can be unpredictable and is frequently the source of a majority of LASIK complications.
With IntraLase, the surgeon uses the precision of a computer-guided laser to create the corneal flap. IntraLase delivers micron-level accuracy 100 percent greater than that of a microkeratome, giving the surgeon more control during the procedure and the ability to establish precise dimensions and thickness of the corneal flap, factors which are critical to a successful LASIK outcome.
This level of precision is unparalleled by any other technology in vision correction surgery. IntraLase allows surgeons to tailor the corneal flap for each individual patient, and each individual eye. Because of its consistent accuracy, IntraLase may make LASIK a viable option even for patients who previously didn’t qualify, such as those with thin corneas.
Q: Is IntraLase safer?
A: Yes. IntraLase improves the safety, precision and visual results of LASIK, whether you choose to have a standard or custom procedure.This is a result of the superior precision provided by the computer-guided IntraLase laser, as compared to that of a hand-held microkeratome, which houses a metal blade that cuts across the cornea to create the flap. In comparison, IntraLase uses the precision of a beam of light to create a laser flap without traveling across the cornea, virtually eliminating severe sight-threatening complications as a result.
Its precision is the source of its safety. Accuracy of flap thickness has been demonstrated at +/- 10 microns.* Precise flap thickness is critical to a successful LASIK outcome, and IntraLase flaps feature a consistent thickness from edge to edge. This degree of accuracy is unprecedented in flap creation technology to date.
Flap stability is also an important factor, as the consequences of flap slippage can be quite problematic. IntraLase flaps provide added assurance and peace of mind for many patients.
Q: Is traditional LASIK unsafe?
A: No, but IntraLase reduces the risk of complications reported with the microkeratome and has given many patients more confidence in choosing laser vision correction.
Q: Is this the same as the customized procedure I have heard so much about?
A: No. Custom LASIK generally refers to an individualized visual diagnosis using technology called “wavefront,” which allows for customized treatment with the excimer laser. There has never been a combination of technologies that have allowed for this type of personalized vision correction. The most exciting part is that while the patient has the opportunity for an optimized visual result, it can be done with unprecedented safety and precision.Every patient’s eyes are different and therefore need to be evaluated independently and treated uniquely. Now all steps of the laser vision correction procedure may be personalized to the individual: custom diagnosis with wavefront, personalized flap creation with IntraLase, and custom laser vision correction with custom ablation.
Q: How do the visual outcomes using IntraLase compare with those of traditional LASIK with a microkeratome?
A: Clinical studies confirm that patients see better following IntraLase-initiated LASIK than with the hand-held microkeratome blade.More patients achieve 20/20 or better vision with IntraLase-initiated LASIK.
Patients stating a preference preferred the post-operative vision of their IntraLase-treated eye 3 to 1 over their blade-treated eye.
IntraLase creates fewer high and low order aberrations, frequently associated with glare and halos at night.
IntraLase patients have a reduced incidence of post-operative dry eye symptoms.
IntraLase patients required fewer enhancement procedures following LASIK.
The precision of the IntraLase flap significantly reduces the incidence of post-operative induced astigmatism as compared with a microkeratome-created flap.
Q: I have seen several advertisements for “All-Laser LASIK.” Is this IntraLase?
A: Maybe. Contrary to popular belief, LASIK is not an “all-laser” procedure, due to the use of the microkeratome blade. Only LASIK procedures that use IntraLase can be considered “all-laser.”Your doctor can explain the difference between other procedures that may be advertised as “all laser,” such as LASEK, PRK or epi-LASIK – all of which are surface ablation procedures. Because they are performed without creating a corneal flap, these procedures generally require longer healing time and frequently involve more discomfort and a delay in visual recovery.
Q: Is IntraLase more expensive?
A: Yes. Most patients agree that the added level of safety, assurance and predictably better vision offered by IntraLase is worth the incremental cost. IntraLase surgeons are leaders in the field of ophthalmology who continually evaluate advances in technology. They’ve determined that the IntraLase is the most sophisticated and accurate system available today for flap creation and have invested in the technology to sustain their leadership in patient care.
