"Femtosecond laser" is one of the most frequently used but least understood terms in LASIK marketing and research — here's what it actually means, in plain language.
What "femtosecond" refers to
A femtosecond is an almost incomprehensibly short unit of time — one quadrillionth of a second. Femtosecond lasers deliver extremely short, precise pulses of light, allowing surgeons to make extraordinarily precise cuts or reshape tissue with minimal heat transfer to surrounding areas.
Femtosecond laser technology is what makes both bladeless flap creation (in traditional LASIK) and lenticule creation (in SMILE) possible — it's a foundational technology category, not a specific brand or a marketing buzzword on its own.
How this differs from earlier LASIK technology
Earlier LASIK procedures sometimes used a mechanical blade (microkeratome) to create the corneal flap — femtosecond technology replaced this with an all-laser approach, offering more precision and consistency in flap creation.
Where femtosecond technology shows up in current procedures
- Traditional "bladeless" LASIK — femtosecond laser creates the flap instead of a mechanical blade
- SMILE and SMILE Pro — femtosecond laser creates the internal lenticule that's removed through a small incision
Why the specific platform matters more than the general category
"Femtosecond laser" describes a broad technology category used across multiple specific platforms with real performance differences between them — see our Visumax 800 explainer for how a current-generation specific platform compares to earlier femtosecond systems.
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