Since its commercial introduction to the US in 1995, Laser Vision Correction has evolved significantly in terms of technology and technique. Today, refractive surgeons agree that the procedure now available to consumers, called the iLASIK™ procedure(the combination of the Advanced CustomVue® Procedure and the IntraLase® Method of flap creation), is far superior to the technology and technique used in the first years following the initial FDA approval. Why then, has market acceptance, which has been consistent at 1. 2 to 1. 4 million procedures per year since the year 2000, failed to keep pace with innovation in the procedure? One explanation can be found by examining the demographics of LASIK patients over the past decade. During that time, the average age of the LASIK patient has remained fairly consistent at 39 years of age. In 1996, that age represented the midpoint of the Baby-boomer generation (78 million Americans born between 1946and 1964), who at that time ranged in age from 32 to 51. Today, this same generation ranges in age from 43 to 62, with a midpoint of 52 years of age. Accordingly, this age group is well into presbyopia and at the early to middle stages of cataracts, making lenticular refractive surgery increasingly amore suitable option…
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