English Forms

Registration Form Patient History Notice of Privacy Act

Spanish Forms

Contact Us

Home Change Text Size A A A

Laser Vision Correction

What is a Refractive Error?

In normal vision, light enters the eye through the cornea and is focused at a single point on the retina at the back of the eye.

With a refractive error, there is a defect in the way light passes through the eye. Light rays do not refract (bend) properly to achieve a single focus point. Instead, light rays focus in front of the retina (nearsighted), behind the retina (farsighted), or at two different points (astigmatism). Refractive errors usually result from a defect in the length of the eye or shape of the cornea.

Myopia or Nearsightedness: Close objects are seen clearly but distant objects appear blurred. Myopia is caused by a steeply curved cornea or elongated eye.	$Refractive Surgery \| Manhattan \| New York City$
Hyperopia or Farsightedness: The cornea is often too flat and light rays focus behind the retina. Both near and distant vision are usually blurry.	$Refractive Surgery \| Manhattan \| New York City$
Astigmatism: The cornea is irregular and egg shaped, causing light rays to focus at multiple points and resulting in blurred or double vision at all distances.	$Refractive Surgery \| Manhattan \| New York City$

What is Laser Light?

Lasers use light beams that are made from a single color or wavelength of light and which have all of the light rays traveling in the same direction (coherent light). Laser light is not radiation, as are x-rays, cosmic rays and gamma rays. The light itself is safe and does not become effective in medical treatment until it becomes highly concentrated through the use of special mirrors and lenses.

Laser light reaches its maximum strength at the focal point, the point where all the rays converge. The strength of the beam rapidly diminishes after passing the focal point, and can no longer affect other tissues in the eye.

For more information, please click here.

For any questions/comments please click here to contact us.

The Excimer Laser

Instead of using heat to alter tissues like other lasers, an excimer laser beam breaks the bonds that link tissues together with only minimal effect on surrounding tissues. These unique properties allow the excimer laser to be used in the LASIK procedure to reshape corneal tissue. After LASIK, light rays focus more precisely on the retina.

For more information, please click here.

For any questions/comments please click here to contact us.

^ back to top

The LASIK Procedure

A special instrument (a microkeratome) is applied to the cornea, creating a thin flap of corneal tissue. The flap remains attached to the eye at one end. Next, the laser is used to reshape the cornea.

For more information, please click here.

For any questions/comments please click here to contact us.

Wavefront Technology

Wavefront Technology | Manhattan | New York City Wavefont technology allows surgeons to perform customized LASIK, LASEK and other refractive surgeries using information gathered from the patient’s own eyes. During a pre-operative examination, light is projected onto the retina and a set of measurements called a wavefront is created. Data obtained from the wavefront exam is converted into a waveprint, a unique profile of the patient’s optical system that is as personal as a fingerprint. Using the results of the wavefront procedure, surgeons can correct the particular refractive errors that obscure the patient’s vision.

For more information, please click here.

For any questions/comments please click here to contact us.

Eye Tracker

During laser vision correction surgery, laser pulses must be accurately placed to reshape the cornea. A challenge to this procedure is the patient's constant eye movement. A person's eyes make small, involuntary movements known as saccadic movements about 100 times per second. Since the saccadic movements will not stop during the surgery, most excimer laser systems use an eye-tracking device that measures the movements and guides the placement of the laser beam.

For more information, please click here.

For any questions/comments please click here to contact us.

CustomVue™ LASIK

CustomVue | Manhattan | New York City VISX™’s CustomVue procedure combines the technologies of the WaveFront and STAR S4 Excimer Laser systems for high-definition, high-accuracy LASIK vision correction. Benefits of the CustomVue process include faster treatment time, elimination of need for pharmacological pupil dilation, minimal heating of the cornea, capability of ignoring errors arising from torsional eye movements, variability of beam size and depth during spot scanning, and individualized treatment with images based on hundreds of data points gathered from each patient’s pupil.

An FDA clinical study reports that six months after the VISX CustomVue™ procedure:

100% of participants could pass a driving test without glasses or contacts
94% of participants could see 20/20 or better without glasses or contacts
74% of participants could see better than 20/20 without glasses or contacts

20/20 is the current standard for excellence in vision. But, with the CustomVue™ procedure, individuals have the potential to see even better than 20/20. In fact, six months after the CustomVue procedure more than 74% percent of clinical study participants saw 20/16 or better.

Many patients found their night vision was improved after the CustomVue procedure. In fact, in the clinical study, four times as many participants were very satisfied with their night vision after the procedure as compared to their night vision before with glasses or contacts.

For more information, please click here.

For any questions/comments please click here to contact us.

^ back to top

The PRK Procedure

PRK or Photo-Refractive Keratectomy treats refractive errors by removing tissue from the surface of the cornea. First, the epithelium, a thin layer of protective skin on the front of the cornea will be removed. Next the Excimer Laser, usually in less than a minute, will remove the proper amount of tissue, thus reshaping the surface of the cornea. A bandage contact lens is then placed on the eye for 2 to 3 days until the epithelium heals.

Patients often experience discomfort and a watery eye for the first 24-72 hours after their procedure. Vision may take up to three months to stabilize.

Possible risks and complications include infection (very rare and usually treated with eye drops), over or under correction, glare, or post-operative haze.

For more information, please click here.

For any questions/comments please click here to contact us.

Reshaping Vision

A computer, programmed by the doctor for each person's own correction factors, controls the laser and the reshaping of the cornea. The procedure is performed while the patient lies on her/his back. In treating myopia, the laser segment of the procedure starts with a narrow diameter beam. As the laser beam expands or moves, a tiny lens-shaped disc is created. The focal point of the beam only penetrates the cornea about two-thousandths of an inch (about half the thickness of a human hair). Only a small area in the center of the cornea is treated, essentially producing a concave lens over the visual axis. Finally, the corneal flap is replaced without stitches and the LASIK procedure is complete.

With hyperopia, the shape of the cornea is essentially steepened to allow images to correctly focus on the retina. For astigmatism, the laser beam scans back and forth along the cylindrical axis to reshape the eye.

Laser Vision Correction | Manhattan | New York City

For more information, please click here.

For any questions/comments please click here to contact us.

.^ back to top

page 1, page 2, page 3