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LASIK is a surgical procedure performed by
ophthalmologists intended to reduce a person's dependency on
glasses or contact lenses.
The intention of this website is to provide
information about LASIK eye surgery.
On the other pages of this site you can read about what you should know before
LASIK eye surgery, what will happen during the LASIK eye surgery, and what you
can expect
after LASIK eye surgery.
There also is a glossary of terms
and a checklist.
LASIK stands for Laser-Assisted In Situ
Keratomileusis and is a procedure that permanently changes the shape of
the cornea, the clear covering of the front of the eye, using an excimer
laser.
A mechanical microkeratome (a blade device) or a laser keratome (a
laser device) is used to cut a flap in the cornea.
A hinge is left at one
end of this flap. The flap is folded back revealing the stroma, the middle
section of the cornea. Pulses from a computer-controlled laser vaporize a
portion of the stroma and the flap is replaced.
There are other techniques
and many new terms related to LASIK that you may hear about.
Epi-LASIK
Epi-LASIK is a refractive surgery technique designed to reduce a person's
dependency on eyeglasses and contact lenses.
Invented by Dr. Ioannis
Pallikaris (Crete, Greece), the technique is basically an automatic LASEK
without alcohol:
a device similar to a microkeratome (called epi-keratome)
slides over the surface of the cornea, just underneath the epithelial
layer of cells while suction is applied the result is a hinged sheet of
epithelium that is at least partially viable it is reflected out of the
way so that the ablation can take place the sheet is repositioned and a
bandage soft contact lens is placed on the eye.
The first cases outside
Greece were performed in September 2003.
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