Laser Cataract Surgery
Cataracts
Cataracts are simply a clouding of the otherwise normal crystalline lens caused typically by the aging process, although sometimes injuries or drugs can contribute to this disorder. Cataracts cause the clear lens to become cloudy or opaque inhibiting the passage of light to the back of the eye and causing a significant reduction in vision oftentimes leading to the complaint of frosted or fogged vision by the patient. All cataract surgery today is performed on an outpatient procedure, usually with topical anesthesia allowing the fastest recovery and return to normal activities as possible. Rapid healing, minimal medication, no stitches, and no eye pads or shields allow today’s patients the best experience for this modern day surgery.
Laser Cataract Surgery without the need for Glasses
There have been numerous changes in cataract surgery over the years, many of which are recent, which allow better visual acuity following surgery. Ultrasound (phacoemulsification) removal of cataracts is a rapid and relatively painless procedure that allows patients to return to normal activities almost immediately. The ultrasound breaks the cataract into billions of pieces as thy are aspirated out of the eye. FemtoSecond Laser-assisted Cataract Surgery is the latest technical improvement that allows the surgeon to perform many of the manual portions of the cataract surgery with a high-speed infrared laser (each pulse firing for only one millionth of a billionth of a second… a femtosecond) These manual portions of the surgery include the corneal incision to gain access to the inside of the eye. Reshaping of the cornea with corneal incisions to reduce astigmatism, and the removal of the front surface (anterior lens capsule) of the crystalline lens that contains the cataract. In addition, the FemtoSecond Laser actually softens the nucleus (the inside portion) of the cataractous lens allowing the cataract to be suctioned and removed from the eye more efficiently with less ultrasound energy for the patient. It is become more and more routine for our doctors to correct astigmatism with the FemtoSecond Cataract Laser and presbyopia with advanced technology during cataract surgery.
