How does the microkeratome compare with the Intralase?
To understand the benefits of the Intralase , one first needs to understand the conventional way to make a corneal flap. Since the dawn of LASIK, the device used to make a corneal flap has been a microkeratome: a mechanical device with a blade and a motor. For years this has been a very dependable device when properly maintained and in the hands of an experienced surgeon. However, on rare occasions, a microkeratome flap would have irregularities that might necessitate a delay in the completion of the surgery or lead to problems that were difficult to remedy. Such problems are virtually impossible with the Intralase because of the way in which it makes a flap. The patients eye is “docked” to the Intralase and a glass plate flattens the corneal. The Intralase then deposits pulses of energy at a very precise distance beyond the surface of the glass plate (or, when docked against the eye, at a very precise depth in the cornea). Each pulse of energy produces a microscopic bubble; the pulses
