In order to understand the effectiveness of wavefront-guided LASIK, we must first have a quick roundup on the natural imperfections of the eye. The cornea and the crystalline lens are not perfect, and light rays passing through the eye are subject to being distorted due to these imperfections. These distortions are termed as aberrations, which are categorized as lower order and higher order aberrations.
Lower order aberrations constitute a major chunk (90% or more) of these aberrations, and lead to the more prevalent refractive errors, such as farsightedness, nearsightedness and astigmatism. These vision anomalies can be compensated for by corrective eyeglasses and contact lenses, or can be treated through conventional surgical procedures like PRK, LASIK or LASEK. However, the remaining 10% optical aberrations, also known as higher order aberrations, give birth to anomalies that cannot be cured via conventional LASIK.
Such a scenario necessitates the use of wavefront-guided LASIK.
Since higher order aberrations are entirely unique to a particular patient, much like fingerprints, a wavefront analysis system (known as an Aberrometer) is used to measure...