Patient Services
Special Procedures
PhotoRefractive Keratectomy (PRK) and Laser In-Situ
Keratomileusis (LASIK):
It has 
long been appreciated that spectacles and contact lenses may fail to provide satisfactory, functional vision for many patients. This has prompted attempts at the controlled modification of the corneal curvature to correct or alter refractive errors. The Chinese literature reports the first attempts to alter the refractive status of the eye by placing small bags of sand on the eyelids overnight. Thermal cautery was used in Europe during the second half of the 1800's in an effort to flatten the cornea and reduce corneal astigmatism. Since the late 1940's this field has seen many new developments with work being done by researchers throughout the world.
Technologic advances have played a key role in the development of many of the procedures now available to correct refractive problems. Sandbags have been replaced by contact lenses, steel scalpels by diamond blades and bare electrical wires by lasers. Computers with sophisticated programs have been coupled to lasers and high-tech measuring devices to allow for microscopic surface "sculpting" of the past and look for new or novel approaches to repair the iris or restore pupillary function. Drops, sutures, various lasers, tattoo pigments, and intraocular iris prostheses are but a few of the approaches currently utilized by the doctors of Michigan Cornea Consultants when iris defects require repair.
Today, the excimer laser is the most commonly used instrument for refractive surgery. This sophisticated laser, originally designed to etch microchips, uses a charged mixture of argon and fluoride gases to produce a beam of ultraviolet light energy which microscopically sculpts the cornea. This is a highly precise instrument with the corneal sculpting performed 0.2 microns (0.0002 millimeters) at a time!
The first patient to have excimer laser refractive surgery was treated in 1988. By the end of 1994, over 1,000,000 cases had been performed worldwide. The numbers of patient having excimer refractive surgery has increased exponentially since that time.
Two laser vision-correction procedures are presently available. Photorefractive keratectomy (PRK) was developed first. Laser In-Situ Keratomileusis (LASIK) followed and has gradually become the more popular of the two. Each procedure has advantages and disadvantages which should be reviewed with your refractive surgeon. The surgeons at Michigan Cornea Consultants do not perform PRK or LASIK.