subject: Different Forms Of Laser Eye Surgery [print this page] Since the usage of first excimer laser in vision correction in the 1950s, laser has been around in laser eye surgery for nearly sixty years. Medicine is one of the major fields that have benefited greatly from the invention of laser, which has also helped make a lot of advancement in other industries. It is widely recognized that the discovery of laser was the direct contribution to the widely application of laser eye surgery. The recent decades have even seen an increasing figure of individuals suffering from those common visual problems and refractive errors, including myopia, hyperopia and astigmatism.
In addition to those traditional solutions such as corrective eyeglasses and contact lenses, vision defected folks living in modern times have another advanced option: laser eye surgery. After an eye surgery, they will successfully restore normal vision, because the laser used in the procedure will reshape the cornea and help it focus light in the retina properly. In detail, a typical laser eye procedure will use a laser device to make changes in the shape and contour of the cornea. For instance, an excimer laser will typically used to produce an ultraviolet light which is vaporizing unwanted tissues. In such a way, the corneal contour and shape will be appropriately altered, correcting mild to moderate refractive errors.
Knowing the basic information of laser eye surgery, it is also important to distinguish different kinds of it. Common forms of laser eye surgery include PRK, LASIK, LASEK and Epi-LASIK. During a PRK procedure, only the outer layer of the cornea will be touched using a surgical blade. The corneal tissues will be cut and vaporized by a computer guided laser beam. In a different approach, LASIK surgery will create a flap in the cornea using a blade or a laser. In addition, tissues inside the cornea will be removed. LASEK procedure is actually a combination of PRK and LASIK. And Epi-LASIK is a modification of LASEK.
