LASIK Laser Eye Surgery Articles from
Savannah Vision Specialist Dr. Elizabeth Miller

LASIK Technology is Now Better Than Ever
Georgia Eye Institute
Elizabeth Miller, M.D.

Perhaps you were four years old when you put on your first pair of glasses and discovered, to your delight, that trees actually have distinct branches. Now, a few years later, you realize to your dismay that newspaper print is not really getting smaller, but rather you simply need reading glasses to see it. Eyeglasses and contact lenses used to be the only solutions when life became blurry. But in 1950, Jose Barraquer of Bogata, Columbia, laid the foundation for what we now know as LASIK surgery.

LASIK is the acronym for Laser-Assisted in Situ Keratomileusis, a type of refractive laser eye surgery performed by ophthalmologists for correcting myopia (nearsightedness) hyperopia (farsightedness), and astigmatism (blurred vision caused by an irregularly shaped cornea). LASIK was performed for the first time in the United States in the early 1990s and the technology has continued to improve. Today, laser procedures can be customized to suit individual patient needs. In fact, more than six million people have had their vision successfully corrected with conventional laser vision correction procedures such as Photorefractive Keratectomy (PRK) and LASIK.

Laser vision correction is a two-step procedure. The cornea, which provides most of the optical power, is the transparent front part of the eye that covers the iris, pupil, and anterior chamber. It is has the approximate thickness of 11 strands of hair. The first step in LASIK surgery is to create a thin-hinged flap in the cornea that is the approximate thickness of three strands of hair. During the second step of the LASIK procedure, precise and controlled removal of corneal tissue by a special laser reshapes the cornea changing its focusing power and improving vision. The flap is then laid back in position.

Surgeons have traditionally used a microkeratome to create the flap in the cornea. A microkeratome is a handheld mechanical device that has a metal blade which moves across the eye in a controlled fashion and cuts the thin flap in the cornea. Although microkeratomes are very safe in the hands of a surgeon, they can cause complications in 1 in 1000 to 2000 cases.

With all-laser LASIK, we now have the technology to achieve impeccable accuracy in our ability to produce flaps of near perfect proportion. All-laser LASIK works by generating tiny, rapid pulses of laser light that create a minuscule layer of bubbles that help the surgeon separate the flap edge for easy lifting. The bubbles disintegrate instantly once the flap is lifted. LASIK is generally painless and recovery is rapid. For some patients, a blade-free approach gives a sense of well being with less apprehension going in for their surgery.

Dr. Elizabeth Miller, director of refractive surgery at the Georgia Eye Institute, is a board-certified ophthalmologist and LASIK specialist. The first physician in the area to do LASIK surgery, Dr. Miller has performed thousands of successful procedures

Dr. Miller completed her ophthalmologic training at the renowned Wills Eye Hospital in Philadelphia, and has been with the Georgia Eye Institute since 1992.

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