What is the difference between bladeless and bladed laser eye surgeries?
While it is a common misconception among patients that the bladeless laser technique does not involve the creation of a flap, both bladeless and bladed laser eye surgery requires the creation of a corneal flap that is reproducible in both diameter and thickness. During bladed laser eye surgery, the flap is created with a microkeratome, a cutting tool with a metal blade. With bladeless surgery, the flap is created using a special laser. The laser that creates the flap is different from the laser that corrects your prescription. The laser used to create the flap is a femtosecond laser, called IntraLase®, and the laser that corrects your prescription is an excimer laser. The femtosecond technology has evolved considerably in the past two years.
