Laser Eye Surgery

Laser Eye Surgery

Introduction

Eyes are organs that convert light into electro-chemical impulses. This then creates an impression in the mind. The eyes of humans and animals are quite advanced and their effects are difficult to duplicate. However, some organisms have simpler eyes that only distinguish between light and dark (Slade, 2000).

The eye is an organ that is very fragile and requires a lot of care. Before and during any surgery, it is essential to carefully prepare the eye so that it does not result in any problems during or after the surgery. Issues relating to the eyes are always handled by expert eye surgeons who take a lot of care and responsibility to conduct the appropriate surgical procedure on the eyes.

Laser Eye Surgery

There are several methods of conducting surgery on the eye. Out of all the methods, the easiest and best method is the laser eye surgery. Lasers are used in the treatment of non-refractive conditions for example, to seal the retinal tear. Another type of surgery is the refractive surgery that is used to treat issues related to refractive conditions like radial keratotomy. Laser eye surgery is used to reshape the eyes surface. Short-sightedness, long-sightedness, and uneven eye surface (Justesen, 2009).

Laser surgery involves the use of a laser to cut tissues. This is an effective alternative compared to conventional surgery which involves the use of a scalpel and other tools. The use of a laser scalpel in a conventional surgery can also be considered laser eye surgery. another example is soft tissue laser surgery in which a laser beam is used to vaporize soft tissues that are made up of high water content. Another widely used laser surgery is laser resurfacing in which lasers are used to dissolve the molecular bonds in the eye to correct the surface of the eye. LASIK (Laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis) is widely used to correct far and near-sightedness in vision while photorefractive keratectomy is used to reshape the cornea permanently with the help of excimer laser. This is done by removing small amounts of tissues from the surface. Laser surgery is much safer compared to conventional surgery since there is no physical contract with the eye and hence the spread of infections is reduced (Caster, 1997).

History of the Laser Eye Surgery

Stephen Trokel, a US ophthalmologist displayed that ultraviolet lasers could be used to reshape the stromal tissues of cow's without affecting the surroundings. This laser was first developed by IBM to etch their computer chips. By changing the pulse rate, Stephen was able to use it to target tissues at extreme heats. Since the pulse rate is short, this is able to vaporize tissues without affecting the surrounding areas. Since this laser is not as hot compared to other lasers, it is often called “cold laser” (Parker & Parker, 2004).

The photorefractive keratectomy (PRK) used another type of laser to remove the top coating of the cornea. This surgery produced results that were much better compared to the techniques used in the ...