What happens if I move my eyes during Laser Eye Surgery?

These days, Eye Surgery is extremely modern, fast, and straightforward. But this wasn’t always the case. We can only imagine what used to go through patients’ minds in the early days of refractive surgery… Looking up to see a sharp, bladed instrument that is soon going to be making contact with your eye…

“Don’t worry,” the surgeon smiles, “I’ve done this a thousand times – everything will be fine.”

Sure, you would appreciate the words but it is unlikely to soothe your nerves as the blade gets closer. Nonetheless, you smile – a gesture the surgeon takes as the green light… All you can think as the blade comes closer to your cornea is: “Oh God, please don’t move, please don’t move!”

This might sound dramatic, but this was the typical experience of a patient undergoing refractive surgery before the development of bladeless procedures. I mean, can you imagine being one of the first patients to have vision correction surgery in the mid-19th century?

While things had gotten a lot better by the late 1980s, it wasn’t until 1999 that ‘Bladeless’ Laser Eye Surgery took off with the development of the femtosecond laser. This high-energy laser finally saw us wave goodbye to the blade and heralded a new age of a practically fully-automated procedure.

Modern Laser Eye Surgery Technology

This development made Laser Eye Surgery more straightforward and safer than ever. This technology was first utilised by a US company in a procedure called IntraLase. Later on, the technology was further developed, evolving into the incredibly precise Carl Zeiss Meditec VisuMax Femtosecond laser, seen in many clinics today.

Human hands have created some incredible things throughout history, but why rely on them and human eyesight when we can instead use the more reliable and precise tools that they have developed? That is precisely what modern Laser Eye Surgery clinics do.

With the help of the Excimer laser – produced by the renowned optics company Carl Zeiss Meditec – we are able to ensure auto-stabilised delivery and unparalleled accuracy. FDA trials of Carl Zeiss Meditec‘s latest model, the Zeiss MEL 90 Excimer laser, have shown it is the most accurate LASIK laser in the world.

These incredible developments in technology and techniques have all but removed the risk of human error. In addition to making the procedure easier, faster, and safer, this has also removed the main source of complications in Laser Eye Surgery.

Cutting-edge tracking technology means no need to worry about moving your eyes during Laser Eye Surgery

So, let’s get back to our poor patient who is terrified of moving their eyes, lest they be left blind when they ought to be able to see better than ever.

As our founder, Professor Dan Reinstein, explains in the short video above, we use eye-tracking technology to – well, track the position of the eye.

This technology works by taking as many as 500-1000 photographs of your eye per second! From these photos, it is able to determine whether your eye is in the right position for laser treatment. If not, the technology instantaneously compensates for any movements. This incredible technology means that even if you move your eye, blink, sneeze – or even fall from the bed – the results of your surgery will not be affected.

Or, as Professor Reinstein puts it in the video above: “…you could probably be playing tennis and still get the treatment at the same time put in the right place because eye trackers today are able to place the spots to within a 10th of a millimetre of where you want to place it.”

The Precision of Laser Eye Surgery

Another factor that plays an important role in the precision of Laser Eye Surgery treatment is the spot size of the laser.

This refers to the point at which the laser actually touches the eye. As you might expect, when it comes to precision, the smaller the spot size, the more precise; a bit like an artist using an extremely sharp pencil or small brush for the most detailed parts of their work.

A smaller spot size makes the laser more focused, allowing it to remove only the tissue required. Different lasers have different spot sizes, so the spot size of the laser used in the laser during your procedure will depend on the clinic you choose.

Here at London Vision Clinic, we use the Ziess MEL 90 Excimer laser – which has the smallest spot size available. The laser’s fast movement and reaction times make it incredibly precise making for a virtually complication-free Laser Eye Surgery procedure.

Are you still worried about moving, sneezing, or falling out of bed during Laser Eye Surgery? Get in touch with one of our friendly clinic coordinators who can tell you more about our technology. Alternatively, Book your Consultation today!