Eye surgeons have been using lasers for the management of cataracts and their complications for years. Remember, a LASER is an optical knife!
With that in mind, burning or vaporizing eye tissues is done with a variety of lasers. Cataracts are simply a clouding of the eye’s natural lens. The treatment is to remove the cloudy lens and replace it with a clear lens implant, as well correct any astigmtism.
The use of short wavelength “femtosecond” lasers is currently used for the following eye procedures:
- LASIK surgery to focus the cornea of your eye.
- Astigmatism correction of your cornea.
- Initial steps in cataract surgery, followed by washing out and ultrasonic cleaning of the cataract material. This step is costly financially adding $2500 to the base price and in time. The outcomes are equivalent to standard cataract surgery.
Cataract surgery is evolving rapidly, and the next step will dwarf the current claims. I am referring to ‘true accommodating intraocular lenses”, not the current generation of lenses. Follow this column for breaking developments!
— David B. Kaye, M.D.
