LASIK or Lasik, commonly referred to as laser eye surgery or laser vision correction, is a type of refractive surgery for the correction of myopia, hyperopia, and an actual cure for astigmatism, since it is in the cornea. LASIK surgery is performed by an ophthalmologist who uses a laser or microkeratome to reshape the eye's cornea in order to improve visual acuity.
Photorefractive keratectomy (PRK) and laser-assisted sub-epithelial keratectomy (LASEK) are laser eye surgery procedures intended to correct a person's vision, reducing dependency on glasses or contact lenses. LASEK and PRK permanently change the shape of the anterior central cornea using an excimer laser to ablate a small amount of tissue from the corneal stroma at the front of the eye, just under the corneal epithelium. The outer layer of the cornea is removed prior to the ablation.
Refractive surgery is optional eye surgery used to improve the refractive state of the eye and decrease or eliminate dependency on glasses or contact lenses. This can include various methods of surgical remodeling of the cornea (keratomileusis), lens implantation or lens replacement. The most common methods today use excimer lasers to reshape the curvature of the cornea. Refractive eye surgeries are used to treat common vision disorders such as myopia, hyperopia, presbyopia and astigmatism.
An Intraocular lens (IOL) is a lens implanted in the eye usually as part of a treatment for cataracts or for correcting other vision problems such as short sightedness and long sightedness, a form of refractive surgery. If the natural lens is left in the eye, the IOL is known as phakic, otherwise it is a pseudophakic lens. Both kinds of IOLs are designed to provide the same light-focusing function as the natural crystalline lens. This can be an alternative to LASIK, but LASIK is not an alternative to an IOL for treatment of cataracts.
A phakic intraocular lens (PIOL) is a special kind of intraocular lens that is implanted surgically into the eye to correct myopia (nearsightedness). It is called "phakic" because the eye's natural lens is left untouched. Intraocular lenses that are implanted into eyes after the eye's natural lens has been removed during cataract surgery are known as pseudophakic.
Robert K. Maloney, MD, MA (Oxon), is an American ophthalmologist. A former Rhodes Scholar and summa cum laude graduate of Harvard University, he completed his education at Oxford University, obtained his medical degree from the University of California, San Francisco, and Johns Hopkins Hospital. Maloney was the first surgeon in western North America to perform LASIK surgery as part of the original FDA clinical trials.
LASIK MD is a North America provider of laser vision correction and the largest provider of laser vision correction in North America based on procedure volume. As of 2013, LASIK MD performs over sixty percent of all laser vision correction procedures in Canada.
Mark Cohen is a Canadian laser eye surgeon who practices in Montreal and Toronto. In 2001, he and Avi Wallerstein founded LASIK MD, Canada's largest provider of laser refractive surgery. As of 2013, LASIK MD performs over sixty percent of all laser vision correction procedures in Canada. He is one of only 14 certified C-LASIK instructors in North America.
Avi Wallerstein is a Canadian ophthalmologist and laser eye surgeon who specializes in surgical vision correction, also termed refractive eye surgery. He practises in Montreal and Toronto. In 2001, he co-founded LASIK MD with Mark Cohen. LASIK MD is Canada's largest provider of laser refractive surgery, performing over 60,000 procedures a year. He is one of only 14 certified CLasik instructors in North America.
Besifloxacin (INN/USAN) is a fourth-generation fluoroquinolone antibiotic. The marketed compound is besifloxacin hydrochloride. It was developed by SSP Co. Ltd., Japan, and designated SS734. SSP licensed U.S. and European rights to SS734 for ophthalmic use to InSite Vision Incorporated in 2000. InSite Vision developed an eye drop formulation (ISV-403) and conducted preliminary clinical trials before selling the product and all rights to Bausch & Lomb in 2003.
LCA-Vision is a provider of photorefractive keratectomy in the United States under the LasikPlus brand. The company performs Custom LASIK, PRK and monovision treatment to correct nearsightedness, farsightedness, astigmatism and reduce the effects of presbyopia. According to the company, one million laser vision correction procedures have been performed at its LasikPlus vision centers since 1991.
Stephen Updegraff, M.D., FACS is an American refractive surgeon best known for his early involvement in, and contributions to, LASIK. He is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons, a board-certified member of the American Board of Ophthalmology, a founding member of the American College of Ophthalmic Surgeons, and a member of the International Society of Refractive Surgery, the American Academy of Ophthalmology, the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery, and the Pine Ridge Eye Study Society. Updegraff currently serves as the medical director of Updegraff Vision in St. Petersburg, Florida.
Laser blended vision is a sophisticated laser eye treatment which is used to treat presbyopia or other age-related eye conditions. It can be used to help people that simply need reading glasses, and also those who have started to need bifocal or varifocal spectacle correction due to ageing changes in the eye. It can be used for people who are also short-sighted (myopia) or long-sighted (hyperopia) and who also may have astigmatism.
Jeff Machat MD, FRCSC, DABO is an ophthalmologist in the United States and Canada specializing in surgical vision correction better known as refractive eye surgery.
Peter S. Hersh is an American ophthalmologist and specialist in LASIK eye surgery, keratoconus, and diseases of the cornea. He co-authored the article in the journal Ophthalmology that presented the results of the study that led to the first approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of the excimer laser for the correction of nearsightedness in the United States. Hersh was also medical monitor of the study that led to approval of corneal collagen crosslinking for the treatment of keratoconus.
Andrew Caster is an American ophthalmologist and a cataract and refractive surgery expert specializing in LASIK procedures. He is the author of “Lasik: The Eye Laser Miracle”, a widely read book on the subject of laser eye surgery, published by Random House. Caster has been named as one of the “Top Doctors in Los Angeles” by U.S. News & World Report, one of the “Best Doctors in SoCal” by the Los Angeles Times, and the “Best Laser Eye Surgeon in Los Angeles” by Los Angeles (magazine).
Raymond Mark Stein, MD, FRCSC, DABO, is a Canadian ophthalmologist. He practices refractive and cataract surgery. He is the medical director of the Bochner Eye Institute in Toronto, Ontario and Chief of Ophthalmology at the Scarborough General Hospital.
Sheraz Daya is a British ophthalmologist. Daya founded the Centre for Sight in 1996, and works in stem-cell research and sight recovery surgery.
Marguerite McDonald is an eye surgeon who in 1987 performed the first excimer laser treatment. In 1993 she became the first to use this treatment to treat farsightedness. In September 2003, she became the first person in North America to perform Epi-LASIK. She has also conducted the first wavefront-based laser surgeries in the United States. She was a co-developer of Kaufman-McDonald epikeratophakia.
Noshir Minoo Shroff is an Indian ophthalmologist, notable for intraocular lens implantation surgery in India and a medical director of the Shroff Eye Centre. The Government of India honoured him in 2010, with the Padma Bhushan, the third highest civilian award, for his services in the field of medicine.
