Wavefront Technology
The next
revolution in LASIK laser vision correction surgery are Customized
treatments, developing individualized software treatment plans
for each patient, based upon the very unique shape and visual
characteristics of that person's eye.
Customized
LASIK involves creating a truly sophisticated corneal map
of the eye and then combining that with an analysis of the
visual system of the eye utilizing Wavefront technology. Wavefront
technology utilizes a visual Wavefront analyzer or aberrometer
to study the way your eye bends light rays to improve your
visual quality potential.

Nidek NAVEX LASIK System with
OPD (Optical Path Diffrence) Scan.
The
Potential Benefits of Customized LASIK
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Greater chance
of achieving 6/6 vision |
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Greater chance
of achieving better than 6/6 vision |
 |
Reduced chance
of losing best corrected vision |
 |
Reduced chance
of losing visual quality or contrast sensitivity |
 |
Reduced chance
of night vision disturbances and glare |
 |
Increased
ability to restore best corrected vision if healing
problems develop |
Customized LASIK not only improves the potential for
6/6 vision, it has the potential to restore eyes to
better than 6/6 vision. The visual system is actually
capable of seeing 6/5 or better, that is letters twice
as small as the 6/6 letters on an eyechart. Most people
cannot see beyond 6/6 because of very subtle imperfections
within their visual system. Wavefront technology allows
the surgeon to first map these subtle visual imperfections
and then develop a laser treatment plan to correct them.
The first patients ever treated worldwide with customized
LASIK were in July 1999. Using Wavefront technology
in the European trials a high percentage of patients
treated with customized LASIK were able to achieve better
than 6/6 vision, and even those that did not, still
appreciated improvements in their night vision and contrast
sensitivity.
"Customized
LASIK utilizes wavefront technology to correct not only
the prescription of the eye but to treat any subtle
imperfections within the visual system to improve both
the safety and visual outcome potential for patients"
Customized
LASIK takes into account the curvature and smoothness
of each cornea, the thickness of the cornea, any astigmatism
and the pattern of that astigmatism, and an individual's
pupil size. Wavefront technology analyzes the entire
visual system from the corneal surface through the crystalline
lens of the eye, all the way back to the retina. It
actually looks at the whole eye and the way in which
that eye sees the world to develop a truly personalized
laser treatment plan. Wavefront analysis occurs across
the entire 6mm optical center and represents a far more
detailed assessment of the visual system, optimizing
any imperfections to create the most ideal laser vision
correction treatment pattern specific for that individual.
Therefore, Wavefront technology not only provides more
precise information for the treatment plan but far more
information than ever before across several hundred
points within the central vision zone to be treated.
Currently,
all patients with - 4.00 diopters of myopia, for example,
are treated with a standard LASIK program for that degree
of nearsightedness. However, each patient may differ
in their precise corneal shape, their corneal thickness
and their pupil size, as well as any number of other
variables not accounted for routinely in standard LASIK
programs. While standard LASIK programs work wonderfully,
the advantages of customized LASIK cannot be overstated.
customized LASIK will create the ideal pattern for each
patient taking a multitude of variables into account.
Instead of utilizing just the information from your
prescription and a single central reading of a corneal
curvature map, customized LASIK analyzes the entire
visual system and develops a Wavefront Map that truly
analyzes the cornea and visual system across hundreds
and hundreds of points within the central vision zone.
Each point mapped then guides the laser beam to provide
the most ideal vision correction profile.
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