Abstract
Purpose:
This study evaluated the efficacy and reliability of a low-energy femtosecond laser with a high repetition rate in the manufacture of deep anterior and endothelial corneal lamellae
Methods:
This is a prospective and laboratory investigation. Twenty-five human corneal buttons were cut tangentially to provide thick anterior lamellae (diameter, 10 mm; thickness, 500 µm). The cuts were made using an LDV® femtosecond laser in a Ziemer® anterior chamber. For a better edge, the lamellae were trephined with an 8-mm trephine (Katena®). The center thicknesses of the whole corneas and of the anterior lamellae were measured using a Mitutoyo® thickness gauge with an accuracy of 0.001 mm
Results:
The thicknesses of the 25 corneas ranged from 500 to 705 µm (mean, 584 ± 51 µm). The thicknesses of the anterior lamellae ranged from 420 to 480 µm (mean, 455 ± 12.7 µm). The thicknesses of the posterior lamellae ranged from 30 to 250 µm (mean, 129 ± 52.8 µm). There were no discrepancies between the observed and expected diameters of the lamellae, and all cuts were perfectly round. The lamellar interfaces appeared regular by surgical microscopy. There were no cases of inter-lamellar adhesion
Conclusions:
The LDV® femtosecond laser appears to be a safe and reliable instrument for cutting deep anterior lamellae from donor corneoscleral buttons. Even the worst-case scenario for the expected cut precision for the whole population of donated corneas would only be about ± 32 µm
Keywords: 479 cornea: clinical science •
578 laser •
741 transplantation