Wavefront LASIK Surgery

While the invention of the Excimer laser made possible significant advances in the accuracy and ease of vision correction surgery based on the principles of radial keratotomy, recent developments in technology used to map the eye's topography have taken standard LASIK surgery to new heights with a procedure known as Wavefront-guided LASIK.

Also known as Wavefront LASIK or Custom LASIK, the procedure uses state-of-the-art laser mapping technology to measure the eye from front to back to create a three-dimensional (3-D) image, or "Wavefront" map, which a surgeon uses to guide the Excimer laser in customizing treatment for any individual's unique visual system.

Wavefront eye-mapping technology is actually derived from very old technology used for years by astronomers to adjust the optics of their telescopes. Wavefront data was used to eliminate aberrations induced by the Earth's atmosphere by making adjustments to reflecting mirrors within astronomers' telescopes. Applied now to microscopic topographical mapping technology, Wavefront data can be used to guide a laser in eliminating corneal aberrations.

Standard LASIK has been effective in treating lower-order aberrations (refractive errors) that result in nearsightedness, farsightedness and astigmatism, but not until the development of Wavefront cornea mapping technology did it become possible to treat higher-order aberrations responsible for such problems as decreased contrast sensitivity or night vision, glare, shadows and halos. While higher-order aberrations do not affect vision in all cases, many LASIK patients in recent years have reported improvements in visual acuity measured in terms of contrast sensitivity and fine vision after undergoing Wavefront-guided LASIK procedures.

Because Wavefront LASIK surgery has only been available in the US since 2001, there is little rigorously produced clinical data on the effectiveness or the long-term results of the procedure. However, several surveys have indicated as much as 94% of Custom LASIK patients report not only satisfaction with the results of the procedure, but also claim to be able to see as well as or better than they did with their corrective prescriptions before surgery.