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Founded in 1997, IntraLase Corp. (NASDAQ:ILSE)
is located in Irvine, California. The company’s INTRALASE®
FS laser uses proprietary, computer-guided femtosecond laser technology
for greater precision, improved safety and better results as compared
to the use of traditional microkeratomes to create a corneal flap
in Step One of LASIK eye surgery.
Femtosecond laser technology provided the basis of femtochemistry
research that won the 1999 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. The use of
the femtosecond laser in ophthalmology was developed by a team
of physicists, biomedical engineers and ophthalmologists at the
University of Michigan, Center for Ultrafast Optical Sciences.
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The IntraLase ultrafast femtosecond laser
is the first bladeless laser technology for performing Step One
of LASIK and the most accurate technology for corneal flap creation
available today. The laser focuses an infrared beam of light to
precisely separate tissue through a process called photodisruption.
In this process, the focused laser pulses divide material at the
molecular level without the transfer of heat or impact to the
surrounding tissue.
About LASIK
LASIK is the nation’s most popular vision correction procedure,
representing 88% of all refractive procedures performed annually.
Approximately 55 million Americans are considered candidates for
current forms of refractive surgical correction. In 2004, an estimated
1.4 million LASIK procedures will be performed in the U.S., representing
$2.4 billion. It is estimated that an additional 1.9 million procedures
will be performed outside the U.S. this year.
Surgeons swear by it.
Today, the IntraLase laser is used in 14% of all LASIK eye surgeries
with the number of procedures performed using the laser growing
dramatically each year. In practices that have purchased the laser,
IntraLase is the standard of care. Also, a recent industry survey
reports that a majority of surgeons (52%) indicated that the IntraLase
laser is the device they would most prefer to create the corneal
flap.*
Patients want it.
IntraLase helps patients find the assurance they need to schedule
their LASIK procedure with confidence. When given a choice between
the IntraLase laser and a hand-held microkeratome, 78% of patients
chose to have Step One of LASIK eye surgery performed with the
IntraLase laser. In a prospective, randomized study, patients
with a preference preferred the post-operative result of their
IntraLase-treated eye 3 to 1 over their blade-treated eye.**
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* |
Leaming,
DV. Practice styles and preferences of ASCRS members - 2003
survey. J Cat Refract Surg 2004; 30:892-900. |
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** |
Daniel S
Durrie, M.D.: Randomized prospective clinical study of LASIK:
IntraLase versus mechanical keratome. Subsets presented
at the Joint Meeting of the American Academy of Ophthalmology
& the International Society of Refractive Surgery, November
14, 2003, Anaheim, CA, and the Symposium of the American
Society of Cataract & Refractive Surgery, May 4, 2004,
San Diego, CA. |
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