Choose from the links below or scroll down the page to learn more about traditional and customized LASIK vision correction:
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Custom LASIK can help you
enjoy
night driving
with no halos.
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One of the exciting new advances in Lasik surgery is our ability to customize the treatment for each eye for each patient. In the past, conventional Lasik has provided excellent results for most patients. Occasionally, however, even with a perfect treatment and a 20/20 visual result, patients may experience some mild glare or halo, especially with night driving.
While these symptoms improve during the healing process, customized treatment addresses these potential problems right at the time of surgery. Besides correcting refractive errors like conventional treatments, CustomVue includes a smoothing feature which removes any micro-irregularities on the corneal surface left unaddressed by conventional treatments. The result is even better clarity of vision for some patients, especially at night or with high corrections or larger pupils.
Many patients who present for Lasik surgery are candidates for CustomVue treatments, but there is an upper limit of correction specified by the FDA. Patients who exceed these limits can still enjoy excellent results with conventional LASIK. The VISX Star S4 laser accommodates both types of treatments.
After a thorough examination, Dr. Pulaski will discuss options for vision correction including what he feels would be most advisable in your particular case. Patients interested in Custom Lasik require the same screening in the office as conventional Lasik patients to determine if they are candidates for this new procedure. If they select a customized treatment, they will need to have a separate wavescan mapping several days before the actual treatment. These maps take only several minutes to acquire and will assist Dr Pulaski in planning your individual treatment.
Patients interested in customized Lasik should leave hard contact lenses out 3 weeks before the wavescan exam (as in conventional Lasik) and soft contact lenses out 2 weeks before (which is not necessary in conventional treatments). This helps provide the most accurate reading for mapping, which in turn allows the best possible result for your customized Lasik.
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The excimer laser is a new FDA-approved ophthalmic device which allows the refractive surgeon to reshape the cornea (front surface of the eye) and correct nearsightedness, farsightedness and astigmatism. The use of the excimer is an integral step in the LASIK procedure.
The laser works by mixing two gases, argon and fluorine, inside the laser cavity. When an electrical charge is applied to this mixture, photons of ultraviolet light are emitted and form a laser beam. This cool beam of energy is focused on the cornea by the surgeon to reshape the curvature. The laser removes corneal tissue with an accuracy up to 0.25 micron (0.00004 of an inch) with each pulse, which makes the excimer laser well-suited for making small and precise changes in the cornea to correct vision.
The amount of laser reshaping depends upon the amount of nearsightedness, farsightedness and astigmatism the eye has and varies from person to person. The individual prescription is programmed into the machine at the start of the procedure.
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