Introduction: Corneal Biomechanics and Refractive Surgery

FABIO A GUARNIERI

Corneal Biomechanics and Refractive Surgery

Springer

Año: 2014; p. 1 - 6

This book is related to corneal biomechanics but stresses its importance to Refractive Surgery, an outstanding procedure that changed the way ophthalmologists and patients see ophthalmology. The Refra ctive Surgery (RS) is a technique used in oph thalmolo gy which modifies the ref ractive sta te of the eye. Since the cornea is the main responsi ble for the refrac tion of the eye, because its ref ractive powe r is grea ter than 70 % of the eye, its refractiv e prope rties are used to change the optical system of the eye. The RS is used in the corr ection of ref ractive err ors like myop ia, astigmat ism, and farsig htedness . Among other procedure s of RS include radial and astigmatic keratot omy, photo refrac tive keratec tomy, and kera tomileusis . Photoref ractive k eratectomy performs a moldi ng of the cornea with short- wavele ngth (e.g., excime r 193 nm) las er. In this case it is assumed that the intrao cular pressure does not affect the str ucture due to the low thickne ss of cornea removed . Kerat omileusis is a p rocedure created by Jose Barraquer (Santa Fe de Bogota , Colom bia) where an autograf t is done, before castin g it. A micro keratome is used to cut a sheet of cornea and with the excimer las er being mold in situ (LAS IK).