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Casey Vision Correction Center's Excimer Lasers
The success of modern refractive surgery results from one of science's "happy coincidences" -- the excimer laser, which was not initially developed for use in medicine. It was first developed by IBM in 1976 to etch computer chips, but by 1983 the excimer laser was being used in vision treatment and research. The first PRK was performed by Dr. Theo Seiler in Berlin in 1987 and the first LASIK followed in 1990 when it was developed by Dr. Ioannis Pallikaris of Greece.

In the Northwest, Casey’s Dr. Larry Rich performed the first PRK in December 1994 with the Nidek excimer laser. The first LASIK procedure in the Northwest was done in October 1996 at CVCC. Casey Vision Correction Center was also one of the first five U.S. eye centers selected to participate in FDA trials for the more advanced Nidek EC-5000 excimer laser. When the Nidek received FDA approval in 1998, over 50% of the data for the FDA study had been gathered at Casey Vision Correction Center. Doctors at Casey Vision Correction Center currently utilize two excimer lasers: the Nidek EC-5000 and the Autonomous LADARVision lasers. Both lasers have proven to be highly safe and effective in various vision correction procedures. Through using this combination of lasers at CVCC, our doctors are able to tailor each patient’s vision correction procedure to that patient’s particular vision needs. The table below illustrates the similarities and differences between the Nidek and Autonomous lasers:

	Nidek Laser	Autonomous Laser
FDA Approval	1998	2000
LASIK	Yes	Yes
PRK	Yes	Yes
PTK (disease treatment)	Yes	Yes
Treatment Parameters Nearsightedness	-1.00 to -14.00 diopters	-1.00 to -9.00 diopters
Treatment Parameters Farsightedness	Currently under FDA study at CVCC	0.00 to +6.00 diopters
Treatment Parameters Astigmatism	-0.50 to -3.00 diopters*	-0.50 to -4.00 diopters*
Laser Type	Scanning slit	Flying spot
Eye Tracker	No	Yes

*A broader range of astigmatism may be treated as determined on an individual basis

Excimer Laser Technology

Current laser vision correction is made possible by the technology behind the excimer laser. The excimer laser uses pulses of cool ultraviolet light to break the bonds between corneal molecules, effectively vaporizing them. The laser pulses are incredibly rapid, lasting only billionths of a second. They are also extremely precise. Each pulse of the laser removes only 1/4000^th of a millimeter of corneal tissue. To put this in perspective, it would take 200 pulses of the excimer laser to cut through a single human hair. This precision is put to good use in laser vision correction surgery, where alterations to the cornea are on a microscopic scale. The amount of tissue removed is equivalent to about half the thickness of a human hair.

The nature of the excimer laser beam is also well suited to refractive surgery on delicate corneal tissue. Most lasers burn tissues around the targeted area, but the cool pulses of the excimer do not damage surrounding tissues. The targeted corneal tissue is removed and surrounding tissues are unaffected.

Although excimer lasers are very safe and effective, they are never treated casually by our specialist team. In addition to following the standards of clinical excellence developed at Casey Eye Institute, the refractive surgeons at the Casey Vision Correction Center adhere to all FDA and manufacturer guidelines for the excimer laser. The surgeons at Casey have also been important contributors to the FDA guidelines -- having participated in 12 FDA clinical studies related to excimer laser technology.

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