Northwestern University in Chicago Offers BladeFREE LASIK Eye Surgery
Understanding Blade-FREE LASIK

If you are like many LASIK patients you might be confused about the various types of LASIK and LASIK technology. Since you are visiting the website Northwestern LASIK Physicians you can rest assured that we will bring our patients only the safest and best technology available. This is why we are bringing Blade-FREE LASIK with Intralase® to Chicago.

The original LASIK surgery procedure involved a mechanical microkeratome. This microkeratome created the necessary LASIK flap with a blade. In the early years most of the LASIK complications resulted from this metal blade or complications with the flap itself. Keep in mind that flap complications were quite minimal. Despite the minimal amount of flap complications ophthalmologists continued to strive for perfect LASIK. LASIK with a microkeratome is still a great LASIK eye surgery procedure and has helped millions of people see their world more clearly and vibrantly.

The new Blade-FREE LASIK options with the Intralase® femtosecond lasers take the flap making process to the next level. The femtosecond laser is used only in the flap creation process of the LASIK procedure. The femtosecond laser technology has now enabled a more safe and more precise FLAP. Bladeless LASIK is not a new procedure and has been tested for several years now. The scientific and FDA data suggest advantages over the conventional microkeratome style of LASIK. Both the United States airforce and NASA has accepted Intralase Blade-FREE LASIK as a standard for their professionals when it comes to LASIK vision correction. The Northwestern LASIK Physicians are proud to be able to offer such a safe and precise technology to our Chicago area patients.

Chicago Patients GET Safety For Their Eyes
Safety with Blade-FREE LASIK

Blade-FREE LASIK eye surgery with the Intralase® femtosecond laser improves the safety, precision and visual outcomes of the treatment. Since the flap is created with the precision of a cool beam laser, the doctors at Northwestern LASIK Physicians are able to sculpt the corneal tissue at the exact depth required for the most accurate, precise result possible. The safety record is very stable compared to microkeratome LASIK and various studies have led researchers to proclaim this technology as 100 times more accurate in creating the flap. Precision with flap thickness is critical to an excellent LASIK eye surgery outcome.

Seeking LASIK in Chicago, IL.
How IntraLase works.
How Femtosecond Lasers work.

1. IntraLase uses ultrafast pulses of laser light to position microscopic bubbles at a precise depth determined by your doctor.
2. The laser light passes harmlessly through your cornea. Then the laser creates rows of these bubbles just beneath your corneal surface as it moves back and forth across your eye in a uniform plane.
3. Next, the IntraLase laser stacks bubbles around your corneal diameter to create the edges of your flap. These bubbles are stacked at an angle that is determined by your doctor and is individualized to the way your eye is shaped.
4. The process takes only about 30 seconds from start to finish—it’s quiet and it’s comfortable.
5. Your doctor then gently lifts the flap to allow for the second step of your LASIK treatment. When treatment is complete, the flap easily “locks” back into position and rapidly begins to heal.