CUSTOM ABLATION
Custom Ablation
These imperfections are referred to as "aberrations." The vast majority90 percent or moreof these aberrations create common refractive errors, such as nearsightedness, farsightedness, and astigmatism, that can be treated by optical devices, such as glasses and contact lenses, or by laser vision correction using the conventional LASIK, PRK, or LASEK methods.
The remaining 10 percent of optical aberrations create images that are altered by chromatic aberration, spherical aberration, diffraction, curvature of field, coma, trefoils, and quadrifoils, all of which are collectively known as "higher order aberrations." These higher order aberrations only occur in a visually significant manner in 10 to 15 percent of the general population. When they do occur, they are entirely unique to each particular patientmuch like a fingerprint. For these patients, the use of a wavefront-guided laser technique to reshape the surface of the cornea in a completely customized fashion may be the best treatment option.
Achieving a customized corneal shaping requires measuring the higher order optical aberrations using a wavefront analysis system called an aberrometer and then digitally interfacing it with a laser. This analysis system then uses high-speed computerized control to direct the delivery of a very tiny beam of laser energy across the cornea, giving it a smooth, uniform shape free of aberrations.
VISX CustomVue Wavefront System
Our practice is proud to feature the VISX CustomVue wavefront system for individualized laser eye-surgery treatments. The VISX CustomVue wavefront system provides an extremely precise level of measurement and correction that was never before possible, setting a new standard in laser vision correction.
Our practice is proud to feature the VISX CustomVue wavefront system for individualized laser eye-surgery treatments. The VISX CustomVue wavefront system provides an extremely precise level of measurement and correction that was never before possible, setting a new standard in laser vision correction.
The system allows the surgeon to see aberrations on the eye clearly and map them on a computer using WaveScan, a technology so powerful that it was originally developed to create distortion-free pictures of distant objects in high-powered telescopes. WaveScan records the unique "fingerprint" of the eye and is 25 percent more precise than traditional refractive-error-measurement methods used for glasses and contact lenses. Because of its precision, WaveScan can measure more than just nearsightedness, farsightedness, and astigmatism the system can also accurately measure more detailed imperfections on the eye.
Information from WaveScan is transferred directly to the VISX Star S4 laser so that it can perform a personalized LASIK eye surgery treatment. Because each person's vision is unique, no two VISX CustomVue surgeries are exactly alike. This LASIK treatment process also uses iris registration technology to align the cornea with the machine for the greatest accuracy.
