all about laser eye surgery - Laser surgery for eyes

Laser surgery for eyes is fast gaining popularity in many parts of the world, including third world countries. Understandable, because laser surgery, such as Lasik, can correct most serious cases of lower-order aberrations. For the uninitiated, lower-order aberrations refer to eye problems such as near-sightedness, far-sightedness and astigmatism. These visual distortions can usually be alleviated by using contact lenses or eye glasses, and laser surgery may not be necessary.

However, there may be cases where an individual's eye optical system may cause other forms of vision problems such as vision disturbances (poor contrast sensitivity, etc), not being able to see in dim or low light, experiencing glare, shadows, and even halos.

These distortions are called higher-order aberrations and they cannot be corrected using eye glasses, contact lenses or even conventional laser vision correction surgery - such as Lasik.

Thanks to advances in technology, higher-order aberrations can presently be corrected. Some of systems uses what is known as wavefront technology. The system can be used to measure and treat lower-and higher-order visual errors.

The end result of this laser surgery for eyes is that patients can see even better after the vision correction procedures is done with than they could with their glasses or contact lenses.

This customised approach involves a new laser eye surgery procedure that enhances both visual acuity and the overall quality of vision such as better clarity and crispness.

Unlike the conventional Lasik method, this new laser surgery for eyes allows surgeons to perform personalised correction, measuring and addressing aberrations that were not detected before.

This is basically how it works - a safe ray of light is transmitted into the patient's eye to create a customised map. The light is then reflected back off the retina, out through the pupil and into a receiving device. The reflected wave automatically arranged into a unique pattern that shows the patient's lower- and higher-order aberrations where all the distortions in the vision are measured.

All these visual irregularities are then displayed as a three-dimensional map which enables the laser eye surgeon to customise the procedure to each patient's visual requirements. In a nutshell, the system uses wavefront data to guide laser treatment.

On surgery day, a special equipment will track the patient's eye movement at several thousand times per second and then place a tiny laser beam to reshape the patient's cornea (with the same pattern as the one displayed on the wavefront map).

Lasik: The Eye Laser Miracle: The Complete Guide to Better Vision