A microkeratome is a precision

surgical Surgery ''cheirourgikē'' (composed of χείρ, "hand", and ἔργον, "work"), via la, chirurgiae, meaning "hand work". is a medical specialty that uses operative manual and instrumental techniques on a person to investigate or treat a pat ...

instrument with an oscillating blade designed for creating the

cornea The cornea is the transparent front part of the eye that covers the iris, pupil, and anterior chamber. Along with the anterior chamber and lens, the cornea refracts light, accounting for approximately two-thirds of the eye's total optical power ...

l flap in

LASIK LASIK or Lasik (''laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis''), commonly referred to as laser eye surgery or laser vision correction, is a type of refractive surgery for the correction of myopia, hyperopia, and an actual cure for astigmatism, since ...

or ALK surgery. The normal human cornea varies from around 500 to 600 micrometres in thickness; and in the LASIK procedure, the microkeratome creates an 83 to 200 micrometre thick flap. This piece of equipment is used all around the world to cut the cornea flap. The microkeratome is also used in Descemet's stripping automated endothelial keratoplasty (DSAEK), where it is used to slice a thin layer from the back of the donor cornea, which is then transplanted into the posterior cornea of the recipient. It was invented by

Jose Barraquer José Ignacio Barraquer Moner (24 January 1916 – 13 February 1998) was a Spanish ophthalmologist and inventor born in Barcelona who did most of his life's work in Bogotá, Colombia. His original pioneering investigations on corneal transplan ...

and Cesar Carlos Carriazo in the 1950s in Colombia.

References

Ophthalmology Surgical instruments {{Medical-equipment-stub

See also

References