WASHINGTON – Laser eye surgery may improve one’s visual horizons, but it doesn’t qualify as a travel expense, a congressional office says in a report on abuses of the federal travel card system.The Congressional Research Service, in a recent survey, found that federal employees in a wide range of agencies misuse travel cards to buy goods for their personal use, travel first-class or simply bilk the government.

Among the examples: a Federal Aviation Administration employee who charged $3,700 for laser eye surgery; a Pentagon employee who received reimbursements for 13 airline tickets totaling almost $10,000 that he never purchased; and a State Department employee who took an unauthorized trip to Hawaii on a first-class ticket.

Auditors had also determined that certain agencies have not collected reimbursement for millions of dollars worth of unused airline tickets and had repeatedly failed to pay travel card invoices in a timely manner, according to the report.

“A private travel agency would be out of business running this kind of operation,” said Scott Amey, general counsel of the independent Project on Government Oversight. He said the CRS report points out the need for immediate improvements, including better oversight of all transactions and increased penalties for misuse.

A 1998 law requires any federal employee who travels more than five times a year to use travel cards. The CRS said travel card spending increased from $4.39 billion in fiscal year 1999 to $8.28 billion in fiscal year 2008.

The report said one major problem is the failure of agencies to determine whether tickets have been used. It cited a Government Accountability Office study finding that over a seven-year period the Department of Defense may have purchased more than $100 million in airline tickets that were not used and had not been processed for refunds. Similarly, the State Department failed to seek reimbursement for $6 million in unused airline tickets over an 18-month period.

The Maser

In 1954, Charles Townes and Arthur Schawlow invented the maser (microwave amplification by stimulated emission of radiation), using ammonia gas and microwave radiation – the maser was invented before the (optical) laser. The technology is very close but does not use a visible light. Lasers are what we now use for laser eye surgery.

On March 24, 1959, Charles Townes and Arthur Schawlow were granted a patent for the maser. The maser was used to amplify radio signals and as an ultrasensitive detector for space research.

In 1958, Charles Townes and Arthur Schawlow theorized and published papers about a visible laser, an invention that would use infrared and/or visible spectrum light, however, they did not proceed with any research at the time.

Many different materials can be used as lasers. Some, like the ruby laser, emit short pulses of laser light. Others, like helium-neon gas lasers or liquid dye lasers emit a continuous beam of light. See – How a Laser Works

Ruby Laser
In 1960, Theodore Maiman invented the ruby laser considered to be the first successful optical or light laser.

Many historians claim that Theodore Maiman invented the first optical laser, however, there is some controversy that Gordon Gould was the first.

Gordon Gould – Laser
Gordon Gould was the first person to use the word “laser”. There is good reason to believe that Gordon Gould made the first light laser. Gould was a doctoral student at Columbia University under Charles Townes, the inventor of the maser. Gordon Gould was inspired to build his optical laser starting in 1958. He failed to file for a patent his invention until 1959. As a result, Gordon Gould’s patent was refused and his technology was exploited by others. It took until 1977 for Gordon Gould to finally win his patent war and receive his first patent for the laser.

Gas Laser
The first gas laser (helium neon) was invented by Ali Javan in 1960. The gas laser was the first continuous-light laser and the first to operate “on the principle of converting electrical energy to a laser light output.” It has been used in many practical applications.

Robert Hall – Semiconductor Injection Laser
In 1962, Robert Hall created a revolutionary type of laser that is still used in many of the electronic appliances and communications systems that we use every day.

Kumar Patel – Carbon Dioxide Laser
The carbon dioxide laser was invented by Kumar Patel in 1964.

Hildreth “Hal” Walker – Laser Telemetry
Hildreth Walker invented laser telemetry and targeting systems.

Doctor Steven Trokel patented the Excimer laser for vision correction. The Excimer laser was originally used for etching silicone computer chips in the 1970s. Working in the IBM research laboratories in 1982, Rangaswamy Srinivasin, James Wynne, and Samuel Blum saw the potential of the Excimer laser in interacting with biological tissue. Srinivasin and the IBM team realized that you could remove tissue with a laser without causing any heat damage to the neighboring material.

Steven Trokel

New York City ophthalmologist, Steven Trokel made the connection to the cornea and performed the first laser surgery on a patient’s eyes in 1987. The next ten years were spent perfecting the equipment and the techniques used in laser eye surgery. In 1996, the first Excimer laser for ophthalmic refractive use was approved in the United States.

Note: It took the observations of Dr. Fyodorov in a case of eye trauma in the 1970’s to bring about the practical application of refractive surgery through radial keratotomy.

The operation itself involves creating a thin flap on the eye, folding it to enable remodeling of the tissue beneath with a laser. The flap is repositioned and the eye is left to heal in the postoperative period. This is essentially what laser eye surgery is all about.

Preoperative Lasik Surgery

Patients wearing soft contact lenses are usually instructed to stop wearing them 5 to 21 days before surgery. One industry body recommends that patients wearing hard contact lenses should stop wearing them for a minimum of six weeks plus another six weeks for every three years the hard contacts have been worn.^[6] Before the surgery, the patient’s corneas are examined with a pachymeter to determine their thickness, and with a topographer to measure their surface contour. Using low-power lasers, a topographer creates a topographic map of the cornea. This process also detects astigmatism and other irregularities in the shape of the cornea. Using this information, the surgeon calculates the amount and the locations of corneal tissue to be removed during the operation. The patient typically is prescribed and self-administers an antibiotic beforehand to minimize the risk of infection after the procedure.

Her prescription — so strong  she says she was legally blind.
But it wasn’t until recently, when her vision got in the way of a job that she decided it was time to make a change, and this is where laser eye surgery comes in.

“I had to get my corrected vision tested and my uncorrected vision tested and for that job I was basically too blind to do it,” said Samantha Smith.

Smith was told that her vision must be retested for her to be cleared for training as a mounted border patrol officer. So she called up Dr.Daniel Sambursky of the Laser Eye Center of the Southern Tier. The day after her surgery she says life is completely different.

“When I woke this morning, it really was amazing. It was a miracle that I could see,” said Smith.

Smith’s speedy results were achieved with the use of a new and safer procedure made possible with new technology.

“We use a tiny little beam, it’s less than a millimeter and it flies around in a special pattern. And it actually is applied 400 times per second and the time that the person is under the laser turns out to be just a matter of seconds,” said Dr. Daniel Sambursky.

This cutting edge technology is not only safer, it’s quicker, cutting procedure and recovery time in half.

“On average 8 to 12 minutes is what a patient would expect to spend under the laser from start to finish of the procedure,”  said Dr. Sambursky.

Dr. Sambursky says that 14 post-op patients who came in for their day after check ups reported they’re feeling 100 percent.

“I would say every patient was 20/20 in at least one eye. The worse vision I saw was 20/25,” said Dr. Sambursky.

A life changing surgery that’s just gotten better being offered right here in the Southern Tier.

New York, NY (PRWEB) February 17, 2009 — Beginning in the mid 40s, everyone with good distance vision starts to experience blurred vision at near points, such as when reading a book, newspaper, putting on eye make-up or even working at the computer. This happens to everyone with good distance vision, even if they never used glasses before, states Kevin Niksarli, MD of Manhattan Lasik Center.  This increases the demand for laser eye surgery among the population.

Kevin Niksarli, MD estimates that approximately 100 million people in the United States either have presbyopia, or will develop it by 2016. This is generating a huge demand for eyewear, contact lenses, and surgery that can help presbyopes deal with their failing near vision.

Boston Laser, a leading laser surgery clinic is lead by one of the renowned experts in the field of laser assisted surgery. Dr. Samir Melki is a leading authority on Cataract, Corneal and Laser Vision Correction Surgery. After more than 6,000 procedures, his experience and technical skills are much sought after by patients. It’s their only set of eyes and they are looking for specialists with the skill and proven technology.

The Juicy Web Guide

Better Quality Vision
Clinical studies have shown that Custom LASIK may improve not only what you see but also how well you see it. In the past, all vision was measured using a standard vision chart. If you could see the letters, the doctor would use that measurement for how well you could see. But now, with Custom LASIK, doctors are able to focus on the quantity as well as the quality of your vision. Many patients who have had Custom LASIK are reporting the ability to see clearer than ever before.

Higher Order Aberrations
Several types of visual imperfections, referred to as lower- and higher-order aberrations, exist within the eye and may affect your vision (the amount of these aberrations vary from person to person). Previously, only lower-order aberrations (such as nearsightedness, farsightedness and astigmatism) could be measured and treated. Higher-order aberrations may also have a significant impact on vision and have been linked to glare and halos. Now Custom LASIK may help to further customize your treatment of these higher-order aberrations that, in the past, could not be adequately treated with glasses, contacts or conventional LASIK treatments. Your doctor will recommend the best procedure for you based on your personal aberrations.

The Technology of Custom LASIK
Custom LASIK uses a wavefront analyzer to measure the way light travels through your eye. The wavefront analyzer creates a customized 3-D map of your eye that looks at your entire optical system. This map provides information about the unique visual characteristics of your eye which adds an additional level of data about your vision, enabling your surgeon to further customize your vision correction.

“Cataracts are not a disease, but a progressive condition which causes the eye’s natural lens to become cloudy,” said board-certified ophthalmologist Jeffrey Baumann, MD, of Mid-Florida Eye Center.

“When a cataract is removed, the cloudy lens within the eye is replaced with an artificial intraocular lens (IOL),” he added, providing an option to laser eye surgery.

“A variety of IOLs may be used in cataract surgery. Each one has different characteristics and its own set of advantages and disadvantages; no one lens is right for everyone,” Baumann said.

“Today, the latest innovations include presbyopia-correcting IOLs, which are designed to improve distance vision and also near vision in the same eye. These lenses greatly improve the chances a person will not need glasses, even for reading. The technology is a great advance, but some patients still need glasses for some activities.

“Traditionally, the only lenses available have been fixed-focus, monofocal IOLs, and these are still the most commonly used in cataract surgery,” said Baumann.

“Monofocal lenses have a fixed focal point that is generally set for distance vision, so reading glasses are typically required for good near vision.”

“Recent refinements in the optical quality of these lenses allow an even higher quality of vision than before.”

Accommodating monofocal IOLs behave much like the natural eye. They are used when both good distance and good near vision are desired without the use of spectacles. These IOLs have a single focal point; however the focal point can shift. This means that objects at distance are clear when the eye focuses on them, but when the eye looks at a near object, the IOL will shift its focal point to bring the near object into focus.

The lens achieves this by physically moving inside the eye in response to the focusing action of the muscles of the eye. CrystalensHD® is an FDA approved IOL of this type. Patients implanted with the CrystalensHD IOL generally enjoy near vision without glasses that is much better than those implanted with Fixed Focus Monofocal IOLs. Vision at the intermediate (computer screen) distance is superb with the CrystalensHD, making this an excellent IOL for those who spend a great deal of time on a computer.

Multifocal IOLs use a different strategy to achieve good distance and near vision without glasses. These lenses have highly specialized optical properties that can divide light to bring it into focus at more than one point at the same time. This allows the eye to see near and far and in-between, usually without glasses.

The ReSTORª mulitfocual IOL uses a patented design to divide light into two focal zones so that near and distance objects can both be seen without glasses.

“The results we can achieve following cataract surgery today are better than ever,” said Baumann. “The added freedom and convenience offered with premium lenses could make your vision problems following cataract surgery a thing of the past.”

The surgeons of Mid-Florida Eye Center helped pioneer innovations in small-incision and no-stitch cataract procedures, as well as foldable and multi-focal lens implants that are considered the gold standard of eye surgeons around the world. Today, the practice has performed more than 120,000 cataract and laser procedures.

Mid-Florida Eye Center’s surgeons have been selected to perform clinical trials for some of the most important breakthroughs in the diagnosis and treatment of diseases of the eye, including glaucoma and macular degeneration.