High-speed photorefractive keratectomy with femtosecond ultraviolet pulses

Egle Danieliene; Egle Gabryte; Mikas Vengris; Osvaldas Ruksenas; Algimantas Gutauskas; Vaidotas Morkunas; Romualdas Danielius

doi:10.1117/1.JBO.20.5.051037

5 March 2015 High-speed photorefractive keratectomy with femtosecond ultraviolet pulses

Egle Danieliene, Egle Gabryte, Mikas Vengris, Osvaldas Ruksenas, Algimantas Gutauskas, Vaidotas Morkunas, Romualdas Danielius

Author Affiliations +

Journal of Biomedical Optics, Vol. 20, Issue 5, 051037 (March 2015). https://doi.org/10.1117/1.JBO.20.5.051037

Abstract

Femtosecond near-infrared lasers are widely used for a number of ophthalmic procedures, with flap cutting in the laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis (LASIK) surgery being the most frequent one. At the same time, lasers of this type, equipped with harmonic generators, have been shown to deliver enough ultraviolet (UV) power for the second stage of the LASIK procedure, the stromal ablation. However, the speed of the ablation reported so far was well below the currently accepted standards. Our purpose was to perform high-speed photorefractive keratectomy (PRK) with femtosecond UV pulses in rabbits and to evaluate its predictability, reproducibility and healing response. The laser source delivered femtosecond 206 nm pulses with a repetition rate of 50 kHz and an average power of 400 mW. Transepithelial PRK was performed using two different ablation protocols, to a total depth of 110 and 150 μm. The surface temperature was monitored during ablation; haze dynamics and histological samples were evaluated to assess outcomes of the PRK procedure. For comparison, analogous excimer ablation was performed. Increase of the ablation speed up to 1.6 s/diopter for a 6 mm optical zone using femtosecond UV pulses did not significantly impact the healing process.

CC BY: © The Authors. Published by SPIE under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Unported License. Distribution or reproduction of this work in whole or in part requires full attribution of the original publication, including its DOI.

Citation Download Citation

Egle Danieliene, Egle Gabryte, Mikas Vengris, Osvaldas Ruksenas, Algimantas Gutauskas, Vaidotas Morkunas, and Romualdas Danielius "High-speed photorefractive keratectomy with femtosecond ultraviolet pulses," Journal of Biomedical Optics 20(5), 051037 (5 March 2015). https://doi.org/10.1117/1.JBO.20.5.051037

Published: 5 March 2015

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

JOURNAL ARTICLE
9 PAGES

DOWNLOAD PAPER SAVE TO MY LIBRARY