Green Bay / Appleton LASIK Eye Surgery and Cataracts Specialists
Alexander Eye Institute – Procedures
Refractive surgery, again, is a procedure that decreases refractive error and is most-often thought of as laser surgery. It also is a surgery that replaces the non-functioning lens in the eye (which may have cataracts or cause the individual to rely on reading glasses, bifocals or tri-focals) with a multi-focal lens that allows you to see at all focal lengths.
UltraSight® LASIK surgery is performed almost identically to other types of refractive procedures. The main difference is that other surgeries do not incorporate WaveScan technologies. Although both types are extremely safe and successful, patients who undergo UltraSight® LASIK in Appleton / Green Bay are more likely to achieve optimal vision correction and reduce the risk of side effects, such as double vision, halos and glare.
This "cool laser" produces a beam of light that removes microscopic corneal layers, usually only 10-15% of the cornea's total thickness. The process is known as photo ablation, and it changes the shape of the cornea, resulting in an image which is more finely focused on the retina, restoring clearer vision. The epithelium is then allowed to re-grow naturally. This procedure does take longer to heal than the more widely used process of creating a flap that is opened allowing the laser to reshape the eye.
PermaClear® Sight Restoration is an exciting procedure performed exclusively at Alexander Eye Institute in which Dr. Alexander replaces the eye's aging lens with a specially designed intraocular lens that lets you see clearly near, far and everywhere in between. Based on the same procedure that has been used successfully to treat millions of people with cataracts, PermaClear® can restore your youthful vision whether you are nearsighted, farsighted or presbyopic.
Intraocular lenses (IOL), often referred to as ICLs, are artificial lens implants that are placed inside the eye, to improve severe nearsightedness, while your natural lens remains intact. Although the first type of this technology was only FDA approved for the treatment of myopia or nearsightedness in September 2004, the procedure has been used for more than 20-years in other countries and has been under study in the United States. Those who would most benefit from an IOL implant have a high degree of prescription, thin corneas (not a candidate for LASIK surgery) or prefer a non-laser vision correction. Alexander Eye Institute pioneered PermaClear®, which is a lens replacement surgery common to cataract surgery except that a multifocal lens (such as ReSTOR) is used to replace the non-functioning natural crystalline lens. This procedure allows you to see clearly at all focal lengths; near, far and mid-range.
Conductive Keratoplasty, CK, is a procedure that may be appropriate for individuals who have difficulty reading items up close; near vision is compromised when the natural lens ceases to function properly due to presbyopia. This condition is also possible when the cornea of the eye is too flat, an eye deformity known as Hyperopia. CK reshapes the cornea, a transparent “coat” of the front of the eye through which the iris may be seen, to increase the curvature. This procedure is different from traditional LASIK in that it is accomplished with radiofrequency instead of the laser beam, administered through a probe. Improvements in vision generally begin a week following the procedure vs. immediately as found with LASIK procedures such as that at Alexander Eye Institute; UltraSight® LASIK (a bladeless all laser LASIK procedure). Additionally, CK results may not be permanent.
