Bladeless LASIK Boston - New England Eye Center

The New England Eye Center offers iLASIK™ bladeless LASIK to patients in the Boston area. The iLASIK™ procedure is one of the most exciting developments in bladeless laser vision correction. In this clip, you can watch the animation of what happens before, during, and after your bladeless LASIK procedure.

FEMALE VOICE: Here's the real story about what happens before, during and after your iLASIK procedure. The iLASIK procedure uses very sophisticated technology, but the process itself is straightforward. When we look at an object, a complex chain of events must happen to form an image. First, light enters the eye through the cornea where it is bent or refracted. Then it passes through the pupil and into the lens where it is bent or refracted again. And then light comes to a point or focuses on the retina. Most normal vision problems occur because of some inability to focus the image on the retina. Nearsightedness, farsightedness and astigmatism occur when there's a problem accurately refracting or bending the incoming light. The iLASIK procedure corrects this problem by reshaping the cornea so that refracted light focuses accurately on the retina. Before having the iLASIK procedure there is a critical evaluation step. Your physician will perform a variety of painless tests to gauge the health of your eyes and document your personal eye characteristics. During this process, some people may find out they are not good candidates, but most healthy adults are good candidates. Next, your physician will take a detailed picture of your eyes. This picture creates a 3-D map of each eye, what we call a customized wave scan. And this one of a kind snapshot serves as the individual roadmap for your iLASIK procedure. This mapping step is what enables you to get a truly personalized result. And when you hear advertisements for on sale LASIK, it's usually assembly line LASIK, not the customized iLASIK procedure. Now you're ready to have the iLASIK procedure. Your physician will give you medication that relaxes you and he or she will apply numbing drops to your eyes. This prescription combination means you probably won't feel anything except some slight pressure. To reshape your cornea, your physician will make a thin flap on the surface of your cornea. With the iLASIK procedure, physicians use a precise and virtually painless laser to create this flap. This is another component that makes the iLASIK procedure the most advanced vision correction because some vision correction procedures use a blade to make this flap. When the corneal flap is safely and precisely made, a second laser is used to make the actual correction to the cornea. The laser is a cool laser so you won't feel pain. The entire correction usually only takes seconds per eye. Again, it's important to remember that with the iLASIK procedure this correction is ultra precise and truly personal. The laser works automatically and is driven by the computerized information that was gathered during your personal evaluation. The laser used during the iLASIK procedure is ultra precise. It uses something we call iris registration, a technology that makes sure the laser stays precisely aligned even if you move your eye. The corneal flap would then be repositioned, and your iLASIK procedure is complete. The entire procedure is typically completed in about 20 minutes. Many people sit up and notice dramatically better vision. When you go home, you will be given some eye shields to prevent you from inadvertently bumping or rubbing your eyes. Then you will return to your physician for a series of follow-up appointments to ensure that everything's okay. With the iLASIK procedure, most people experience 20/20 vision or better so you can go out and enjoy life.