Epi-LASIK is a refractive surgery technique designed to reduce a person's dependency on eyeglasses and contact lenses.
Invented by Dr. Ioannis Pallikaris, the technique is basically an automatic LASEK without alcohol; it can be better considered as superficial LASIK.
[2][3] This means that the original rationale for carefully cleaving the epithelium with the aim of replacing it at the end of surgery is flawed.
[4] When this happens, the blade inadvertently cuts into the collagenous corneal stroma and creates an irregularity.
In September 2003, Marguerite McDonald became the first person in North America to perform Epi-LASIK.