Published: August 11, 2007 12:02 am      

Somerset doctor using breakthrough Lasik technology

SOMERSET — Friday morning, Barry Ohler woke and couldn’t see his alarm clock – like any other day.

But today, he should wake up a changed man – or at least with changed eyesight.

“I’ve been wearing contacts for years,” the 48-year-old Markleton man said while awaiting Lasik eye surgery Friday afternoon at Somerset Hospital. “They give me problems, and I don’t really like glasses.”

Dr. Daniel Vittone performed Ohler’s eye surgery within minutes using a new, Femtosecond laser. Vittone was one of the first in the country to use the Swiss-made machine, and Ohler’s procedure was videotaped for other surgeons learning the new technology.

The machine differs from older models in its precise cutting capabilities.

Instead of the surgeon cutting a flap of the cornea’s surface, the Femtosecond laser performs the incision, the first step in the surgery. Then, a ticking sound means the laser is reshaping the patient’s eye.

Then, it’s over. That fast.

Ohler sat up after the surgery smiling, albeit with bloodshot eyes. He finally could see without corrective lenses.

In a second surgery, Breiann Howsare of Somerset spent a few minutes under the machine while the procedure was broadcast live on the Internet to a group of surgeons in Brazil, Switzerland, Mexico, Miami and California.

After her surgery, she grabbed a technician’s arm and sat up with better vision.

“I see a lot better,” the 26-year-old said.

“That’s amazing.”