Custom LASIK -  Individualized Laser Vision Correction   

Live your best life with your personal best vision

Custom LASIK surgery, also known as wavefront LASIK or wavefront-guided LASIK, uses 3-dimensional measurements of how your eye processes images to guide the laser in re-shaping the front part of the eye.

With a wavefront measurement system, some extremely precise, individualized vision correction outcomes may be achieved that would be impossible with traditional LASIK surgery, contact lenses, or eyeglasses.

You should be qualified under Food and Drug Administration guidelines before custom wavefront LASIK would be considered for your eye condition. Depending on the custom laser system used and other factors such as appropriate thickness of your cornea, you might be considered a candidate if you have mild to moderately high degrees of common vision defects such as myopia, hyperopia, and astigmatism.

With custom LASIK, your eye's ability to focus light rays is measured, and a 3-D map is created that demonstrates irregularities in the way your eye processes images. Information contained in the map guides the laser in customizing the treatment to reshape your eye's corneal surface so that these irregularities can be corrected.

Standard prescriptions for glasses, contacts, or traditional LASIK procedures can correct ordinary vision defects such as myopia, hyperopia, and astigmatism. But other irregularities associated with the eye's optical system could not be addressed until the advent of wavefront and related technology used in custom LASIK.

Benefits of Wavefront-Guided Custom LASIK

Wavefront technology is groundbreaking because it has the potential to improve not only how much you can see, visual acuity measured by the standard 20/20 eye chart, but also how well you can see, in terms of contrast sensitivity and fine detail. This translates into a reduced risk of post-LASIK complications, such as glare, halos, and difficulty with night vision.

How much you see depends on vision defects known as lower-order aberrations associated with common refractive errors including myopia, hyperopia, and astigmatism, which traditional LASIK can treat.

How well you see can depend on presence of the type and numbers of visual distortions known as higher-order aberrations, which can include irregularities other than common refractive errors. These higher-order aberrations can create problems such as decreased contrast sensitivity or night vision, glare, shadows, and halos. However, higher-order aberrations do not always affect vision. Unlike traditional LASIK, custom LASIK treats both lower- and higher-order aberrations.

Custom LASIK's advantage lies in the area of quality of vision:

• Greater chance of achieving 20/20 vision
• Greater chance of achieving better than 20/20 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
  

Potential also exists for custom LASIK to treat those people who have lost best-corrected vision from any past refractive surgery: LASIK, PRK, etc.

How Custom LASIK Works

The surgeon in one popular method will begin by using the wavefront device to transmit a safe ray of light into your eye. The light is then reflected back off the retina, out through the pupil, and into the device, where the reflected wave of light is received and arranged into a unique pattern that captures your lower- and higher-order aberrations.

All of these visual irregularities are then displayed as a 3-D map, referred to as a wavefront map. This information is then electronically transferred to the laser (in wavefront-guided systems), and computer-matched to the eye's position, enabling the surgeon to customize the LASIK procedure to your unique visual requirements.