In vivo measurements of thermal load during ablation in high-speed laser corneal refractive surgery.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the thermal load of ablation in high-speed laser corneal refractive surgery with the AMARIS excimer laser (SCHWIND eye-tech-solutions).

METHODS: Thermal load from refractive corrections on human corneas using a 500-Hz laser system with a fluence of 500 mJ/cm(2) and aspheric ablation profiles was recorded with an infrared thermography camera. Each single in vivo measurement was analyzed and temperature values were evaluated.

RESULTS: Overall, the maximum temperature change of the ocular surface induced by the refractive ablations was ≤4°C. The increase in the peak temperature of the ocular surface never exceeded 35°C in any case. This low thermal load was independent of the amount of correction the eye achieved.

CONCLUSIONS: The thermal load of the ablation in high-speed laser corneal refractive surgery was minimized using a computer algorithm to control the peak temperature to avoid corneal collagen denaturation with minimal compromise on treatment duration.