Various eye related diseases including both the anterior and the posterior parts of the eye have been started to be treated now.
The most common types of eye diseases causing blindness presently are diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma, cataract and age related muscular degeneration.
It is quite promising that with the advancement in scientific researches various other ophthalmologic problems with the use of lasers would also be soon dealt with.
Laser technology is improving day by day using various types of laser treatments in ophthalmology.
The most commonly used are ruby, (ND:YAG) neodymium - yttrium - aluminum - garnet, erbium and argon.
These help in diagnostics and the treatment of various ocular disorders.
One of the most dreadful eye diseases is glaucoma which can lead to sight loss forever.
With the improvement of lasers in ophthalmology the treatment for glaucoma has been discovered.
But it is only recommended if any other medical therapy fails in the specific case and fails to control the pressure within the eye.
The commonly used laser procedure in this is peripheral iridotomy.
This is performed particularly for the patients with narrow angles, acute angle closure or papillary block glaucoma.
Then the usage of Argon laser began to replace the surgical iridectomy to be safer than the previous one.
But it was said to be requiring melanin for tissue absorption of the energy.
So later on the Qswitched mode of the Nd:YAG laser came into use.
It does not require melanin pigment for iris absorption.
But it has some risks involved as corneal injury, iris hemorrhage, iritis, blurred vision, irritation etc.
At about middle of 20th century light coagulation and laser treatment of the retina came into use in ophthalmology.
This treatment was used to rectify diabetic retinopathy and other ischemic retinopathies.
The inner retinal oxygenation is improved by retinal laser photocoagulation.
It affects retinopathy relieving hypoxia.
It also helps changing the growth factor production and hemodynamics.
Lasers in ophthalmology are also used to manage malignant and essential intraocular lesions.
Small melanomas are treated by Transpupillary Thermotherapy (TTT) by using 810nm infrared lasers.
Medium and large melanomas are also treated by lasers as adjunctive tools to other tratment modalities.
Advantages of lasers in ophthalmology:
- Broad availability
- Better results and performances
- Comparatively easy to conduct than other modalities
- High precision power during surgery
- Offers more safety to adjacent tissues
These have been proven best for reshaping the anterior corneal curvature to rectify refractive problems.
Myopia, hyperopia and astigmatism are commonly treated by laser treatments as photorefractive keratectomy (PRK) and LASIK.
Even the imagination of ophthalmology is impossible without lasers today.
Lasers dominate the eye surgery field today.
The development of lasers in this field is taking place quite rapidly as for cataract extractions, ocular imaging and to treat various eye related dreadful diseases.