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iLASIK

Dr Holzman uses the world's most innovative and medically advanced technique to perform the LASIK procedure for you. He was the FIRST physician in the Metro DC area to perform iLASIK over 5 years ago, and has served as educator and trainer in the region and beyond ever since.

iLASIK is the end product of more than a decade of research and extensive medical expertise and confirms Dr. Holzman's and TLC's firm commitment to safety and precision in Laser Vision Correction. iLASIK is the first ever vision correction procedure that is 100 percent custom-fit for your eyes and is one of the most precise procedures performed in all of medicine today.

There are three steps in the iLASIK process, each of which is equally important in providing you with the optimal outcome, vision which can be 20/20 without any glasses or contact lenses - and many times, even better!

The first step is the measurement of your eye's vision abnormalities. No two eyes are identical, this is very similar to fingerprints. The precise measurement step in the iLASIK process uses a 3-D mapping technique to determine all of the lower order and higher order aberrations of your visual system. Your eyes are positioned behind a Wavefront WAVESCAN device, and light is then directed painlessly into the eye. Literally seconds later, the wave of light that hits the back of the eye is bounced back to the machine, and is digitized into a 3 D map which describes your visual system. NO TWO EYES are the same! Prior to having this unique and individualized mapping technique, all laser treatments were based on the eyeglass prescription strength alone. So, in the past, if two patients were able to wear the same eyeglasses, then they would have received the same standard laser treatment. Not so with iLASIK!! Even if you and your friend might wear the exact identical pair of prescription eye glasses, your laser treatments with iLASIK will differ greatly. These measurements are 25 times more precise than older methods which are used to measure your spectacles and contacts. Dr Holzman and the staff at TLC Tysons Corner are experts at both performing and reading these eye scans. This is what is referred to as "Custom" technology.

The next step in the iLASIK process is the creation of an ultra thin corneal flap (using the INTRALASE laser), which will then be lifted to provide access to the inner corneal tissue. This step is done to prepare the cornea for the final step of the process, the gentle reshaping of the corneal tissue. The corneal flap is made using an ultra fast computer guided laser which creates a cleavage plane in the cornea, thus allowing Dr Holzman to expertly find the cleavage plane and lift open the corneal flap. The cleavage plane is created using tiny gas bubbles. This process is fast! It takes less than 30 seconds in order to finish the entire INTRALASE process.

Prior to the development of INTRALASE, a bladed device had to be used to make the flaps. The all-laser process added enormous amounts of safety, precision and accuracy to the entire procedure, and Dr Holzman firmly embraced the INTRALASE process since it was approved over 6 years ago. This process leaves your cornea more secure and stronger than the older LASIK procedure using bladed devices. Dr Holzman does thousands of the INTRALASE procedures yearly and has trained numerous other physicians in this technique. He is viewed as a leader and educator in this technology both regionally and nationally.

The final step in the iLASIK procedure is the reshaping of the corneal tissue with another highly precise laser. This is done after the corneal flap has been painlessly folded back, thereby exposing the inner corneal tissue. With the use of the VISX STAR S4 Custom Vue laser system, Dr Holzman is able to correct your vision based on the exact measurements found in the 3 -D mapping system performed in the first measurement step. It takes virtually seconds to complete, and during the process your eye is being followed with a digital eye tracking system to ensure perfect placement of the laser spots. It is a truly amazing process! No two eyes are ever treated in the same manner as a Custom treatment is performed. This Custom treatment has been shown in studies to decrease the incidence of evening glare and haloes, which were associated with older types of LASIK procedures in the past. In fact, clinical studies one year after treatment showed that 4 times as many mild and moderate nearsighted patients were satisfied with their night vision after the treatment compared with their night vision before treatment in glasses or contact lenses.

iLASIK revolutionized Laser Vision Correction in many important ways. It provides patients with more consistent outcomes, safer procedures and better long term stability of the cornea than procedures of the past. It were these advances that finally convinced NASA and the Military that LASIK was a safe enough, precise enough and logistically simple enough procedure for their personnel to undergo. If it is good for our fighter pilots, it must be good enough for you as well!!

Dr Holzman was the first physician in the metro DC area to perform the iLASIK procedure and he has served as a trainer and educator in the procedure. Dr Holzman takes his technology choices very seriously and only uses the very best available in the industry for your vision correction needs.