Wavefront LASIK Technology

In addition to IntraLase technology, we offer appropriate candidates custom ablation using advanced wavefront-guided technology by Alcon Surgical. This approach uses the advances of adaptive optics developed for the U.S. military to measure and treat not only your prescription but also light scatter generated by the optics of the eye. This technological advance is offered for PRK as well as LASIK.

WHAT IS WAVEFRONT TECHNOLOGY?

Wavefront technology is the scientific base for Customized LASIK laser vision correction currently being performed today. Wavefront technology has improved the visual outcomes of patients and provided significant advantages over conventional LASIK. The utilization of a WavePrint™ system allows for both a diagnostic and treatment approach and enables the doctor to take very precise measurements of the patient's eyes. This is similar to a fingerprint of your vision. Just like a fingerprint, no two corneal maps are the same. In the system's diagnostic phase, a device called the WaveScan makes a WavePrint Map, a detailed map of the patient's vision. In the treatment phase, the doctor uses the information from the WavePrint Map to perform the vision correction using the excimer laser.

HISTORY

Wavefront technology was first developed in 1978 by Josef Bille, Ph.D., director of the Institute for Applied Physics at the University of Heidelberg, to measure wavefront distortions that occurred when light traveling through the atmosphere entered a telescopic lens. This technology removed any visual distortion or aberrations from the atmosphere allowing astrophysicists to more accurately view images of the stars and planets.

It is now possible to utilize this technology to record detailed information about the visual characteristics of the eye. Unlike standard measuring devices such as corneal topography, which measure the front surface of the eye called the cornea, the wavefront scans the way the entire optical system processes light.