Corneal flaps created with a 200 kHz femtosecond laser are safe, reliable and precise in LASIK procedures, according to a paper in the 

, Department of Ophthalmology, University of Heidelberg, Germany, performed femtosecond laser flap cutting on 36 porcine cadaver eyes using a prototype 200 kHz femtosecond laser.

Eyes were assigned to three thickness groups: 100 µm, 130 µm, or 180 µm cut depth. A micrometer gauge was used to measure the thickness and all flaps underwent histologic evaluation. Flap diameters ranged from 8.0 mm to 9.5 mm and were measured with a sliding calliper.

Mean flap thickness and standard deviation was 96.33±7.45, 134.67±4.96 and 174.59±9.35 for the 100 µm, 130 µm, or 180 µm cut depth, respectively. Mean flap diameter was 8.03±0.15, 8.56±0.10, 9.09±0.10 and 9.54±0.15 for 8.0 mm, 8.5 mm, 9.0 mm and 9.5 mm, respectively.

No complications were recorded and histologic evaluation demonstrated a smooth cut and little to no changes in the structure of the corneal stroma. Morphology and accuracy of the cuts proved to be reliable and precise.

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Corneal flaps created with a 200 kHz femtosecond laser are safe, reliable and precise in LASIK procedures.