Femtosecond Laser Application in Therapeutic Keratoplasty

Abstract

Abstract: : Purpose: To demonstrate the feasibility of femtosecond laser application in full thickness keratoplasty, anterior and posterior lamellar keratoplasty in a series of laboratory models. Since candidates of these procedures would have loss in corneal transparency, we also demonstrate the laser’s effectiveness through opaque corneas. Methods: Corneaoscleral rims not suitable for transplant were mounted on an artificial anterior chamber to simulate host and donor tissues. Femtosecond laser was utilized to create vertical cylindrical and lamellar corneal resections to prepare host corneas and harvest tissues from donor corneas. To demonstrate the laser’s effectiveness through opaque corneas, 80% acetone solution was used to induce corneal opacity and corneal resection was attempted. Results: Surgical techniques in the 3 therapeutic keratoplasty procedures proved to be simple and effective. The femtosecond laser was effective in resecting severely opaque corneal tissue even at depths up to 600 um. Conclusions: Femtosecond laser can be used to perform therapeutic keratoplasty. Its application in the full thickness keratoplasty, anterior and posterior lamellar keratoplasty may provide assistance to surgeons to eliminate the tasks of manual corneal dissection.

Keywords: cornea: basic science • anterior segment • clinical laboratory testing