New Laser May Make Eye Surgery More Precise

New Laser Vision Correction Surgery Approved

BOSTON -- For patients and doctors, the future of vision correction surgery seems to be changing in the blink of an eye.

If you're considering laser vision correction surgery, you may want to take a look at this.

Technology designed by NASA to help track satellites in the sky is now making laser eye surgery more pleasant -- and more precise.

Three months ago, Adrienne Morlan tossed her glasses away thanks to LADERVision -- a new technology in LASIK, or laser vision correction surgery, that was recently approved by the Food and Drug Administration.

"I had a lot of night blindness, driving at night with the lights, and I don't have that at all now, which is wonderful," Morlan said.

The makers of LADARVision said that it's more effective than other lasers because the beam is so small. Less than 1 millimeter wide, it reshapes the cornea in microscopic increments.

It also tracks eye movements at a rate of 4,000 times per second.

"The tracking technology gives us the ability to eliminate one of the big variables, which is the eye moving around," said Dr. Roger Steinert of Opthalmic Consultants of Boston.

Once the tracker locks onto the eye, it guides the placement of the beam, providing surgeons with greater accuracy and patients with a sigh of relief.

"The patients have the comfort of knowing that if they move a little bit, it's not going to result in a bad procedure," Steinert said.

Dr. Dimitri Azar questions whether LADARVision is better than other lasers, but is adding it to his practice because the device's precision may help him treat special vision problems like irregular corneas.

"By having more than one laser available to our patients, we will be able to custom choose which patient will be better fit for a specific laser," Azar said.

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