Femtosecond laser technology rapidly evolving

BERLIN — The femtosecond laser is becoming an increasingly popular tool in ophthalmic surgery.

To date, approximately 2.5 million procedures have been performed with the IntraLase laser (Advanced Medical Optics), 50,000 with the Da Vinci laser (Ziemer), 20,000 with the Femtec laser (20/10 Perfect Vision) and 7,500 with the VisuMax laser (Carl Zeiss Meditec).

According to Günther Grabner, MD, who discussed the characteristics of these four machines at the femtosecond laser symposium here at the European Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons meeting, the future will be "laser compression." This involves compression in time, with a shorter pulse duration, and compression in space, with a strongly focused, lesser amount of energy to perform the cut.

In addition, all femtosecond lasers will have penetrating keratoplasty and lamellar cut facilities, although excision parallel to the Descemet's membrane is still an issue that needs to be solved.

"Channel performance for [intracorneal ring segments] and pocket performance for corneal inlays will also be introduced in all the lasers," Dr. Grabner said.

He said that for those surgeons who have a femtosecond laser in their practice, the age of microkeratomes is gone.

"Once you have started using the femtolaser, microkeratomes become an obsolete gadget," he said.