METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR SURGICAL ABLATION OF THE CORNEA

摘要

Improved apparatus for surgically reprofiling the cornea to correct refractive error. A hand held assembly including a vacuum controlled fixation ring and adapter/sleeve assembly that is used as the initial set-up upon the cornea for supporting a micrometer adjusted surgical knife blade that can be manually or mechanically rotated or oscillated to correct the refractive error by ablation scraping or sculpting of the cornea. Video monitoring is provided. The apparatus also may be used in conjunction with other known refractive techniques to provide primary or secondary corneal reshaping, to finish or fine tune a known procedure, or to otherwise expand, smooth or enhance the anterior or stromal cornea.