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Wavefront aberration mapping
and image enhancement has been used in astronomy for years. The actual
theory was first developed in the 1930's by a German physicist named
Zernicke. The first wavefront mapping of the eye was performed in 1994. The
FDA approved Custom Cornea wavefront LASIK in October 2002.
Custom Wavefront LASIK is but a technologic enhancement to conventional LASIK which
may prove to be advantageous to some people. From the surgical and patient
viewpoint, however, the LASIK procedures are identical.
While Custom
wavefront LASIK may be very appropriate for some, it may not be necessary or
even the wrong approach for others. Considerations such as the magnitude of
your eye's higher-order aberrations, your pupil size, and your corneal
thickness may suggest one or another procedure.
While conventional LASIK was and still is very
effective treatment for myopia, hyperopia and astigmatism, the new wavefront
LASIK procedure has given surgeons the ability to provide patients with
improved visual results compared to conventional LASIK according to the
results from he recent FDA study.
Wavefront LASIK differs from conventional
LASIK treatment particularly in the way the eye's optics is measured.
Accurate measurement of the optics of each eye is essential for a good
visual outcome from the LASIK procedure. It is this series of
numbers/calculations that is used to program the laser for reshaping the
cornea.
Prior to wavefront LASIK, the surgeon objectively measured the eye
with a handheld instrument or an automated measuring device then asked the
patient to subjectively refine the measurement. Instead of using an average
measurement of the eyes optical system as is done with the usual LASIK,
custom wavefront LASIK uses a waveprint of the eye's optical system as the
guide for laser reshaping. The waveprint in wavefront LASIK is 25 times more
accurate than an average measurement because data about the eye's optical
system is collected from hundreds of separate points over the central 6mm
area of the cornea.
Rather than using an average measurement from the
central 6mm to reshape the entire cornea, the cornea reshaping is customized
at each of the hundreds of points from which measurements are taken. When
eyes examined in this way are compared, like fingerprints, no two optical
systems are the same. Therefore, no two corrections are similar but are
personalized for each patient and eye in wavefront LASIK.
The end result
for patients is that custom wavefront LASIK provides improved visual
outcomes and reduces night vision problems associated with early
conventional LASIK procedures.
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