Source : http://www.allaboutvision.com/visionsurgery/blade-vs-bladeless.htm
If you are interested in LASIK eye surgery for vision correction, you may have wondered about the issue of "blade versus bladeless" regarding how the procedure is done.
If you are interested in LASIK eye surgery for vision correction, you may have wondered about the issue of "blade versus bladeless" regarding how the procedure is done.
What do blade and bladeless mean? And what are the advantages and disadvantages of each type of LASIK procedure?
In traditional LASIK, an instrument known as a microkeratome cuts a thin, hinged flap into the eye's clear surface (cornea). The flap then is lifted for application of laser energy that reshapes theeye for vision correction. Replacing the flap in LASIK promotes faster healing.
Another method of creating a LASIK flap, introduced in 1999, uses a type of high-energy laser (femtosecond laser) instead of a blade.
The first FDA-approved bladeless flap-making system in the United States, called IntraLase, was acquired by Advanced Medical Optics (AMO) in 2007 and integrated into the company's CustomVue excimer laser platform — which now is marketed as iLASIK.
Besides IntraLase, other bladeless LASIK systems include zLASIK (Ziemer Ophthalmic Systems), Femtec (2010 Perfect Vision) and Visumax (Carl Zeiss Meditec).
Femtosecond laser systems often are marketed as "bladeless" or "all laser" LASIK, although eye surgeons favoring more traditional microkeratomes might argue that both procedures involve penetrating the eye's surface.
