In 1958, American Physicist Gordon Gould invented the first laser. Today lasers are used for many purposes. Some lasers are extremely powerful and others are extremely delicate. The laser that is used for Photo Refractive Keratectomy (PRK) and Laser ASsisted in-SItu Keratomileusis(LASIK) is the excimer laser, or "excited-dimer" laser. This extremely delicate laser was developed by IBM in the 70's to etch microchips onto silicon.

Due to the laser's unparalleled accuracy, the laser was modified on the early 80's to replace Radial Keratotomy (RK), which is performed manually.

Photo Refractive Keratectomy or LASIK procedures should not be confused with RK surgery, RK involves the surgeon making a series of slits in the cornea with a special scalpel. The slits cause scars which flatted the cornea and change the prescription. RK leaves the eye structurally compromised. A trauma could cause the eye to rupture at one of the incision points. With RK, if the pupil gets larger than the edge of the scars, scattered light can cause glare problems at night. RK which is a manual procedure is not as accurate as PRK. The laser is extremely precise. The surgeons hands do not touch your eyes. We believe that the laser will replace RK.

The procedures do not use needles, only topical eye drops are needed. The procedures are absolutely painless.

Most refractive errors are a result of corneal curvatures that are either too steep or too flat. Your cornea is the outer window and most powerful layer of the eye that refracts entering light. The ideal cornea should be shaped like a perfect hemisphere. Nearsightedness (inability to see in the distance) occurs when the cornea is too round, farsightedness(inability to see up close) ...when the cornea is too shallow. People who have two centered curves in their corneas, i.e., like the shape of a football , suffer from astigmatism (general blurred vision). The excimer laser can correct both nearsightedness and astigmatism by shaping the cornea into a perfect hemisphere.

The excimer laser's precision is demonstrated by its ability to etch perfect notches into a human hair.

The excimer laser used in PRK reshapes the cornea by removing the outmost 5-10% of the corneal thickness. This does not affect the structural integrity of the eye and its 6mm correcting zone rarely produces problems with glare at night. Each pulse of the laser removes a layer 1/4 micron thick, that is the equivalent of 1/10,000th of an inch. The laser does not burn tissue, it is referred to as a "cold" laser. The laser pulses with an energy level that breaks carbon to carbon bonds. Carbon bonds are what holds tissue together. The tissue is then turned into gas and vacuumed away.