Services
LASIK Technology
You can trust our experience to create a customized treatment for you. We offer multiple laser technologies so we can offer the latest and most advanced lasers as well as more affordable alternatives. By matching your unique eye anatomy and prescription with the right technology, we can achieve the best possible outcome for you.
Allegretto
Allegretto Wave™
When it was approved in 2003 as the first new laser in five years, the FDA granted Allegretto Wave the widest approval range ever initially given to a new laser for both myopic and hyperopic vision correction. Since then, the results have been astoundingly positive.
Allegretto Wave’s revolutionary approach to laser vision correction minimizes problems associated with night time glare and halos.
Allegretto Wave’s PerfectPulse Technology™ represents a new approach to laser vision correction. Smart energy control measures and adjusts energy levels in the laser pulse from creation to delivery. High-speed eye tracking charts the eye’s movement 200 times per second. As a result, every laser pulse is completely controlled and accurate, achieving the most accurate level of correction possible.
- PerfectPulse Technology™ – Allegretto Wave’s laser is a precise, controlled beam of energy. To make sure this beam never causes any sort of adverse heating effect on the cornea, Allegretto Wave’s PerfectPulse Technology™ places the laser pulses in such a way that only every fifth pulse overlaps.
- Smart Energy Control – You can have peace of mind that the amount of energy in the laser has been calibrated to exactly the right level. After the beam has been created, it passes through three checkpoints on its way to your eye. At each of these points, the energy level is checked and adjusted if necessary, ensuring that the beam is perfectly attuned at its destination.
- Eye Tracking Technology- Every 4-6 milliseconds, the eye’s location is measured and the internal mirrors of the Allegretto Wave are automatically aligned. Right before the pulse is released, a second check is made to confirm that the eye has not moved. This happens 200 times every second, once for every laser pulse released. If, at any time, the eye moves too quickly to be measured or moves out of range, the laser will stop and wait for the eye to move back into position.
- Proprietary Wavefront Technology – One of the most innovative features of the Allegretto Wave is the way it uses wavefront-optimized technology to automatically compensate for the curvature of the cornea. In earlier laser correction systems, the “optical zone,” or area of correction, was centered on the front of the cornea; the result was a flattened circular area that ended with an abrupt edge, causing unwanted side effects like poor night vision, glare, and halos. Understanding that the cornea is a sphere, Allegretto Wave uses a proprietary treatment that is adjusted to the patient’s individual corneal curvature. The Allegretto Wave sends extra pulses to the peripheral cornea area in order to compensate for the angle of the laser. In this manner, the spherical shape of the cornea is preserved to a degree that older lasers simply could not achieve. This compensation, combined with the incredibly small, 1mm size of the laser, produces a smooth, effective optical zone that produces what can only be described as high performance vision.
- Better Night Vision and Glare Control – Allegretto Wave is able to produce the largest available optical zone, virtually eliminating glare and night vision problems.
One of our laser technologies is so advanced that it is the only laser on the market that incorporates technology that was developed by NASA.
NASA developed a technology to track moving objects and this technology has adapted to and incorporated in the LADARVision excimer Laser. This technology is so precise that it allows the laser to track a patient’s eye at a speed of 4000 times per second which is much faster than any other system on the market. In fact the LADARVision is the only excimer laser system with an FDA- Approved claim showing that its tracker improves the accuracy of the patient’s treatment.
IN A HEAD TO HEAD COMPARISON PATIENTS WERE ASKED TO EVALUATE THEIR VISION WITH A CUSTOM LASIK TREATMENT BY A DIFFERENT LASER IN EACH EYE. ALCON’S LASER WAS A 4-TO-1 FAVORITE OVER THE VISX EXCIMER LASER, AND A 3-TO-1 FAVORITE OVER THE B&L EXCIMER LASER.
The Alcon laser is the only excimer laser that the FDA has approved to be able able to claim that with its Custom Cornea treatment it decreases the induction of higher order aberrations and increases patients contrast sensitivity.
We also have a laser technology that has a Dynamic Rotating and overlapping delivery System with provides a refractive treatment over a large ablation area and delivers excellent results.
WaveFront LASIK
Millions of people have reduced their dependence on eyeglasses and contact lenses over the past several years with the refractive procedure known as LASIK.
Here’s how this exciting technology works:
First, flat waves of light are passed through your eye using a computerized wavefront-measuring instrument. As the light waves travel through your eye’s optical system, the imperfections in the eye distort the flat light waves. The device captures the distorted waves as they exit your eye and compares them to the perfectly flat light waves that would have been reflected if your optical system had no distortions.
The Wavefront system used to drive this technology 25 times more precise than conventional methods used for glasses and contacts. Coupled with the rapid tracking system of an Alcon LADARVision laser, this precise map or “fingerprint” of the eye can then be translated onto the surface of the eye rapidly and safety.
This procedure can correct refractive errors such as nearsightedness, farsightedness and astigmatism. Now an enhanced version of LASIK, known as wavefront LASIK, is available. This improved system allows eye surgeons to customize the procedure for each eye, providing the possibility of even better vision.
Adapted from technology used in astronomy, wavefront LASIK is a procedure that uses an array of microsensors and a laser. A wave of light from a laser beam is sent through the eye to the retina. This light is reflected out of the eye, and the sensor measures the irregularities at the front of the wave of light as it emerges from the eye. This produces a precise three-dimensional map of the visual system, including the cornea’s imperfections, or aberrations. Thousands of people have the same eyeglass prescription, but because the map is so precise, no two people have the same wavefront measurements.
These wavefront data are translated into a mathematical formula the surgeon uses to program corrections into the ultraviolet cold laser, which vaporizes tissue to reshape the cornea. This new wavefront technology has a better chance of reducing higher-order aberrations that cause glare, haloes and blurry images. All wavefront patients will have some higher-order aberrations after their procedure, and in fact some types of aberration may increase. However, wavefront technology is the best tool for quantifying aberrations, and wavefront LASIK results in far fewer aberrations than conventional LASIK.
Concerns about quality of vision and nighttime glare with previous forms of LASIK prevented many people from having their vision corrected. In Food and Drug Administration trials, the majority of patients who had custom LASIK found their night vision to be better after the procedure than it was with their glasses or contact lenses. One FDA study showed More than 70 percent of custom LASIK patients saw better than 20/20.
Custom LASIK may not be for everyone because it removes more corneal tissue than conventional LASIK. Patients with thin corneas, high degrees of aberration, severely dry eyes or conditions that affect the lens or vitreous fluid inside the eye may not be good candidates. However, many of these patients may still be good candidates for conventional LASIK. Have Dr. Burger’s staff check to see if Custom LASIK is right for you.
Dr. Burger Questions and Answers Regarding LASIK.
Wavefront aberration mapping and image enhancement has been used in astronomy for years. The actual theory was first developed in the 1930’s by a German physicist named Zernicke. The first wavefront mapping of the eye was performed in 1994. The FDA approved Custom Cornea wavefront guided LASIK in October 2002. In our research program, we have been studying corneal optics and optical outcomes for years, and have been working with corneal wavefront measurements since 1999.
Custom LASIK is a technologic enhancement to conventional LASIK which may be advantageous to some people. From the surgical and patient viewpoint, however, the LASIK procedures are identical (although there is additional mapping in the custom procedure). Thus, if we find you to be a good candidate, you can be confident in our experience.
While custom LASIK may be very appropriate for some patients, it may not be necessary – or even appropriate – for other patients.
In a certain percentage of custom LASIK cases, patients will see better than they did with their glasses or contact lenses. This is also true for conventional LASIK, though theoretically not as frequently. One needs to understand that although this vision improvement is possible, it is by no means guaranteed. It is still possible that you will not see quite as well as with your glasses or contacts.
When you read about claims that Custom LASIK is “safer” than conventional LASIK, they usually are referring to the reduced likelihood of creating night vision or glare/halo problems. Such problems can be secondary to “higher order aberrations” or static in your eye. Since custom LASIK is designed to minimize this static, the hope is that the incidence of night vision problems will be minimized. Remember, though, most conventional LASIK patients have good night vision and some Custom LASIK patients could still suffer problems.
The actual surgical experience for the patient is exactly the same as conventional LASIK. The difference comes in the pre-operative measurement of the wavefront aberration profile and the technique for programming the computer with your individual treatment parameters.
While we understand a great deal about the eye’s lower-order aberrations and their stability, we understand far less about its higher-order aberrations. So while the laser effects of custom LASIK should be stable and permanent, no one can yet predict how one’s higher-order aberrations will naturally change over the years.
While there is a tendency for those with larger pupils to have a larger degree of higher-order aberrations, this is not always the case. Pre-operative wavefront measurements will determine this degree and whether custom LASIK would be recommended over conventional LASIK.
Wavefront measurements of post-operative LASIK patients with such quality of vision complaints may demonstrate higher-order aberrations. Preliminary studies suggest that wavefront LASIK retreatments can reduce these aberrations, as well as subjectively improve these night vision and contrast sensitivity problems. Each patient needs to be individually assessed to make proper suggestions.
“High Definition Vision Package”
With the “HIGH DEFINITION VISION PACKAGE” Dr. Burger chooses which technologies he feels will give each individual patient the best possible visual result based on all their pre-operative testing results and each patients individual visual needs. This is an all inclusive package which includes all the required preoperative testing and exams, Lasik surgery, and post-operative testing and exams.
Dr Burger utilizes Broad Beam, Scanning, and Flying Spot laser technologies.