There are two steps in the LASIK procedure. First, the surgeon creates a micro-thin corneal flap, which is lifted to expose the inner cornea for step two, tissue ablation by an excimer laser. The first step of making flap can be done either with ultrathin blade call Microkeratome (Blade LASIK) or with laser (Blade free LASIK).
The Femto Second (FS) laser introduced the concept of blade-free LASIK, representing the first improvement to the procedure’s first step. Surgeons have found statistically and clinically significant differences in the vision patients achieve — better than 20/20 to 20/15 and even 20/12.5 — when the laser is used to make the corneal flap.
With its excellent safety profile, patient comfort and superior visual outcomes, Blade free LASIK is among the fastest-growing refractive surgical techniques in the country today. As of the third quarter of 2006, the 518 IntraLase FS lasers in use worldwide have performed approximately one million blade-free LASIK procedures. In the U.S., more than 25 percent of all LASIK procedures incorporate the advanced Femtosecond laser Method.