Have you ever wondered what the acronym LASIK stands for? Well, it stands for Laser-Assisted In-Situ Keratomilesius, so now you know why the call it LASIK. And while most people associate LASIK with eye surgery, they are unaware that LASIK is not restricted to one particular optical procedure. There are many types of LASIK surgery.
And joining the family of LASIK procedures is LASIK Plus. Like LASIK, LASIK Plus is refractive surgery which corrects visiual defects, making eyeglasses and contacts unnecessary. And also like LASIK, LASIK Plus is available as radial keratotomy, corneal implantation, LASEK, and PRK.
So what, then, is the difference between LASIK and LASIK Plus? The “Plus” comes not at the end of the surgery, but before the surgical diagnosis is even made. LASIK Plus practitioners employ state-of-the-art machines in performing their optical examinations. Among these machines are those referred to as wavefront devices, and it is the wavefront device which elevates a LASIK procedure to the ranks of LASIK Plus.
NASA Technology
The wavefront devices originated with NASA, who developed the technology in order to correct defects in telescopic lenses. But there are far more human eyes than telescopes in the world, and with that market potential, it was inevitable that the wavefront technology would make its way into medical service.
The human eye has evolved in such a way that its cornea is subject to both upper and lower defects. LASIK diagnostic exams will locate defects of the lower cornea; but only LASIK Plus can locate the less easily found upper ones. How?
How LASIK Plus Works
The LASIK Plus procedure bounces flat light waves off the surface of the eye, so that the wavefront device can read them much in the same way that radar reads sound waves. The size of the optical defect will control the amount of light bouncing back to the wavefront machine, letting the optician know both the seriousness and type of the defect.
The information on each defect is processed through a computer diagramming program to quantify exactly what sort of optical difficulties a patient has. Because an “ideal” eye will produce a flat map, the undulations revealed by a wavefront map, and its range of colors, are indicative of an eye’s aberrations.
Thanks to LASIK Plus, many more patients are approaching their LASIK surgery with an extra boost of confidence. The pre-operative exam not only finds more defects; it can specify their nature with a high degree of accuracy. With this information, a doctor will be able to choose the best LASIK procedure for each patient, and the procedures themselves will go much more smoothly. And every aberration in an eye can be treated simultaneously, leading to a much more successful outcome.
This wonderful new LASIK Plus technology is, of course, not without its price. Eye surgeons will pass the cost of the wavefront machines along to their patients, but as the technology becomes more and more mainstream, and more patients demand it, the price of LASIK Plus surgery will drop.