Carter Eye Lasik Vision Correction Blog

IntraLase (also called IntraLASIK and blade-free LASIK) is one of the LASIK alternative procedures. It is often an excellent option for people who are not good candidates for LASIK because of their corneal thickness.

IntraLase uses a second laser to create the corneal flap before treatment begins. The LASIK flap requires a minimum corneal thickness but not everyone has that. But if you have thinner-than-average corneas, you can still have laser vision correction (other things being equal), and IntraLase is a choice we offer here at Carter Eye Center.

Two Lasers Used
The second laser is an extraordinarily fast-pulsed laser and highly programmable. According to your treatment plan, Dr. Carter will set this laser to penetrate only so far into the cornea, and only within the designated treatment area. Each pulse creates a microscopically tiny bubble beneath the corneal surface and the laser scans back and forth across the treatment area until it is entirely filled with these bubbles. It takes only seconds.

This has the effect of loosening surface tissue in a very precise way. Dr. Carter can then gently lift a thin layer of cells, move it to the side, and proceed safely with your vision correction plan. The IntraLase laser creates a custom-thin flap that will heal by itself with no stitches necessary. In LASIK, the flap is created with a microkeratome, a sophisticated and very precise blade. But it cannot create as thin a flap as the IntraLase laser can.

Vision improvement after IntraLase can be as dramatic as after LASIK. You can have the same Wavefront diagnosis that is done for Custom LASIK, and this gives a more precise treatment than was done in the early LASIK procedures before Wavefront technology was developed.

If you would like to know more about LASIK and IntraLase, please call or email our vision correction office today to schedule a free personal consultation.