Which is best, iLASIK or zLASIK?

Both Intralase and Ziemer are both excellent options for LASIK flap creation. Both will create excellent flaps and when combine with custom excimer corneal treatment should create excellent results. Pupil size, while an issue in the past, is no longer a concern since the advent of wave scan custom treatments.Pentacam is a must in evaluating the structural integrity of the cornea before LASIK surgery.

iLASIK and
zLASIK are simply terms coined by various equipment manufacturers to “brand”
their version of custom, blade-free LASIK. If you’re really asking, “what is the best brand of
equipment to have for my LASIK?” the answer is all of the major excimer laser
(Visx, Allegretto, Bausch & Lomb, Nidek) and femtosecond laser (IntraLase,
Ziemer) manufacturers offer excellent products which when used in skilled
surgeons’ hands, deliver outstanding results. Much like a race car and driver, you need to have great
equipment AND a great surgeon.
Technical specs on a laser can often be less important than who is
behind the laser operating it.

Corneas should
be of normal shape, without signs of keratoconus, pellucid marginal
degeneration, or other structural abnormalities. Corneal thickness should be sufficient to allow a 275 to 300
micron residual bed minimum after ablation. Pentacam is currently the gold standard when it comes to
measuring and analyzing the shape of the cornea preoperatively.