Wavefront™ LASIK Diagnostic Technology

Wavefront ™ mapping is the technology that makes custom laser eye surgery possible. The Wavefront™ LASIK diagnostic tool is able to precisely measure and diagram your eyes’ unique imperfections — so-called higher-order aberrations as well as myopia, hyperopia, and/or astigmatism — so they can be treated during the custom LASIK procedure, improving your quality of vision.

History of Wavefront™ Technology

Wavefront™ technology was originally developed for use in astronomy. In the 1900s, astrophysicist Johannes Hartmann developed a simple method, dubbed the Hartmann test, to measure the imperfections of mirrors and lenses. In the 1970s, two doctors, Dr. Roland Shack and Dr. Ben Platt, refined the Hartmann test and created the Hartmann-Shack sensor, which is now used in Wavefront™-guided laser eye surgery systems.

Wavefront™ and Laser Eye Surgery

It was not until the 1990s that Wavefront™ mapping was applied to ophthalmology. German doctor Josef Bille was the first to use the Hartmann-Shack sensor in ophthalmology. After this breakthrough, Dr. Junzhong Liang and Dr. David Williams worked to refine the technology, developing an automated system offering increased accuracy and speed. In 1997, they presented their early clinical results at a meeting of ARVO (Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology). Finally, LASIK Wavefront™ technology had advanced to a point where the major laser manufacturers — Alcon, VISX, and Bausch & Lomb — approached the doctors to develop their own Wavefront™ diagnostic tools for use in LASIK laser eye surgery.

In 2002, the FDA approved the first Wavefront™-guided custom LASIK application. Today, there are many integrated Wavefront™-guided LASIK systems that first generate a Wavefront™ map of a patient’s unique optical imperfections, then send this information to the excimer laser that performs the custom LASIK procedure.

How does Wavefront™ Mapping Work?

Wavefront ™ mapping for LASIK eye surgery is able to detect and measure optical imperfections 25 times more precisely than standard methods.

This mapping takes advantage of the properties of light. Specifically, light travels in flat sheets, called wavefronts. To generate a Wavefront™ map of a person’s eye in preparation for laser eye surgery, a safe beam of light is passed through the patient’s eye. This beam of light passes through the eye’s optical system (the cornea, lens, and retina), and reflects it back, at which point the Wavefront™ diagnostic machine captures and measures it. If the eye’s system was perfect, the ray of light would exit just as it entered the eye — as flat sheets. However, in an eye with lower- and higher-order aberrations, the ray will become distorted. Translating this distorted light into a Wavefront™ map of the eye’s imperfections is the basis of custom LASIK.

Three-Dimensional Mapping

Over 60 patterns of higher-order aberrations exist alongside the common problems of nearsightedness, farsightedness, and astigmatism. These various imperfections exist to different degrees, and often vary between a person’s two eyes. It is no surprise, then, that the more detail and realism a Wavefront™ map is able to convey, the better. Today’s Wavefront™ laser eye surgery sensors are able to map both lower- and higher-order aberrations on a highly detailed, three-dimensional diagram of the eye.

Transfer of Map to Computer-Controlled Laser

Once a Wavefront™ LASIK sensor has identified, measured, and mapped the eye’s specific irregularities, special software converts these data points into a mathematical algorithm. This algorithm acts as treatment instructions for the excimer laser that carries out the actual LASIK procedure. Today’s best Wavefront™ sensors are seamlessly integrated with excimer laser eye surgery systems. Such integrated systems include the VISX® CustomVue™ system and the LADARWave® CustomCornea® system. Such integrated technology ensures that your unique visual challenges are diagnosed, measured, and treated, with no information lost en route.

Locate a LASIK Eye Doctor in Your Region

If you would like to contact a surgeon offering Wavefront™-guided LASIK laser eye surgery, use DocShop to find a LASIK surgeon in your area.