Hummel Eye Associates - Oklahoma LASIK Eye Surgeon

In Oklahoma City and Edmond, Oklahoma

Tuesday, April 29, 2008

What Sort of Laser is Used in LASIK?

It’s called an excimer laser. All lasers are man-made for certain purposes. They are made from different “lasing materials” which can be gas, liquid, solid or semiconductor. The excimer lasers are made from a mix of reactive and inert gases. They are ultraviolet, meaning beyond our visual range on the violet end. So when you have a LASIK treatment, you can’t see the laser beam, nor can your eye surgeon. But he can control it.

All lasers have a color, whether we can see it or not. A color is a vibration of energy. Each laser has its own vibration rate and the light moves in parallel rays. A laser doesn’t scatter its light like a flashlight or a car’s headlights. It focuses its light, sending it in a tight, coherent beam. This is why lasers can be so precise. If you think of one of those red classroom laser pointers, you’ll have the idea, except that the LASIK laser is far more precise and small than that.

Light and heat are both energy and occur together. Lasers have heat, but they vary enormously in how much heat. Some are so hot they can slice through a block of steel. When lasers are used on human tissue, they are of course much cooler, and ultraviolet lasers are among the coolest. Many also use a cooling device such as a screen or air cooling.

The light from the LASIK laser is easily absorbed by the eye tissue. No burning occurs and no cutting. The laser simply disrupts the bonds between molecules, so that the tissue disappears, vaporizes. This is known as ablation, the removal of surface tissue.

Being microscopically precise, the LASIK laser penetrates the cornea only to a tiny and pre-determined depth, and only at tiny and pre-determined spots. It’s used according to your treatment plan. The treatment system’s computer holds all the treatment plan information and since the laser is also part of the same system, the computer can control it, keeping it on track for your individual vision correction.

posted by Patti at 12:21 PM 0 comments

 

(405)755-6111
Hummel Eye Associates
See Your Best…See Hummel!
4205 McAuley Blvd. #401
Oklahoma City, OK 73120
Fax:(405)755-6298

Disclaimer: The information provided on LASIK, Cataract and Advanced Eye surgery for patients in Edmond, Norman, and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma is intended to be a public service. It is not intended to be medical advice, but to provide information about qualified Cataract and LASIK surgeons in the Oklahoma City, Oklahoma area.
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