LASIK San Jose | LASIK San Francisco | Wavefront LASIK - Laser Eye Center of Silicon Valley

1.877.438.2020

San Jose

Pleasanton

Wavefront Laser Technology

Customizing LASIK & Epi-LASIK Treatments
by Craig S. Bindi, MD

In 2002, the FDA approved “Wavefront Technology” as a further refinement of the traditional LASIK procedure. The Laser Eye Center of Silicon Valley has the distinction for being the first private practice in the Bay Area to offer Wavefront Technology and perform Wavefront LASIK. On this page, I explain the how Wavefront LASIK works and when it is useful.

Wavefront Technology helps address night halos and glare

"Night vision quality" is an important component of patient satisfaction after LASIK. As Wavefront technology has matured, the goal to preserve or even improve night vision quality has become a reality¹. In published clinical studies, Wavefront LASIK patients tend to have better night vision, a lower chance of needing a retreatment and a higher chance of seeing “20/20 or better” compared to traditional LASIK methods^2,7. How? Modern wavefront laser systems incorporate more detailed information into each laser treatment. By taking into account each patient’s unique eye aberrations/corneal dimensions, wavefront laser treatments are more customized than glasses, contact lenses and standard LASIK procedures. While Standard LASIK treats basic nearsightedness, farsightedness and astigmatism, Wavefront LASIK additionally treats other unique vision aberrations, which cause problems such as glare, halos, and poor night vision.

How wavefront technology helps patients with naturally poor night vision

By measuring ALL significant pre-existing visual aberrations prior to surgery with wavefront aberrometry, customized wavefront lasers are able to treat the “high order” aberrations that cause night vision problems^3,4,7. For certain patients with pre-existing night vision problems, halos or glare, Wavefront LASIK has been a very welcome addition.

How wavefront technology helps patients with naturally good night vision

If you currently see fine at night with your glasses or contacts, you just don’t want to worsen your night vision during the process. For you, it is important to understand the effect of “induced-spherical aberration”, which is also addressed by modern wavefront technology. Original lasers could not preserve the natural aspheric corneal optical shape, which focuses light rays to a sharp point. As a result, new “spherical aberrations” were induced by the laser treatment. How? Older lasers could not effectively treat the peripheral cornea; so light rays from the untreated outer edge of the laser ablation zone remained unfocused. This would result in halos and glare at night. This was found to be the primary cause of night vision problems in patients whose night vision declined after standard LASIK. The effect of “induced-spherical aberration” was especially significant in patients with larger corrections or larger pupils. With modern “optimized” wavefront treatment profiles, these spherical aberrations can now be addressed to preserve or improve night vision after LASIK.^3,4,6

The “best possible” vision results

Wavefront Laser Vision Correction currently offers the highest likelihood for obtaining the best possible vision results. Accordingly, due to their demanding visual requirements, U.S. Navy/Air Force fighter pilots and NASA’s Astronauts are only treated with wavefront technology. While Standard LASIK and Epi-LASIK have been revolutionary in vision correction, Wavefront LASIK/Epi-LASIK provides the best possible results.

In one government-sponsored FDA clinical study, 93% of Wavefront LASIK patients saw “20/20 or better”, and 76% better than 20/16!
In another FDA study, 98% of patients saw 20/20 or better, and 100% saw at least 20/40 without glasses.
With the additive benefits of Wavefront technology, it is ten-times more likely to see better at night than worse after Wavefront LASIK/Epi-LASIK compared to glasses and contacts. ¹

Learn more about Our Laser Technology

Need help deciding? Read: “Should I Do Wavefront or Standard Laser Vision Correction?”

References:

Comparison of night driving performance after wavefront-guided and conventional LASIK for moderate myopia. Ophthalmology. 2009 Apr: 116(4): 702-709
Wavefront-guided LASIK for the correction of primary myopia and astigmatism a report by the American Academy of Ophthalmology. Ophthalmology. 2008 Jul; 115(7): 1249-61. American Academy of Ophthalmology, Quality Care and Knowledge Base Development, P.O. Box 7424, San Francisco, CA 94120-7424, USA.
Visual acuity and higher-order aberrations with wavefront-guided and wavefront-optimized laser in situ keratomileusis. J Cataract Refract Surg. 2010 Mar; 36(3): 437-41. Perez-Straziota CE, Randleman JB, Stulting RD
A comparison of wavefront-optimized and wavefront-guided ablations. Curr Opin Ophthalmol 2009 Jul;20(4):247-50 Myrowitz EH, Chuck RS. The Wilmer Eye Institute, The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21093, USA.
Wavefront-guided customized corneal ablation. Curr Opin Ophthalmol. 2008 Jul;19(4):314-20. Kim A, Chuck RS The Wilmer Eye Institute, Lutherville, Maryland 21093, USA.
Wavefront-guided versus wavefront-optimized laser in situ keratomileusis: contralateral comparative study. J Cataract Refract Surg. 2008 Mar;34(3):389-97. Padmanabhan P, Mrochen M
Comparison of custom ablation and conventional laser in situ keratomileusis for myopia and myopic astigmatism. Cornea 2009 Oct;28(9):971-5. Palacin E

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Locations

Laser Eye Center of Silicon Valley
606 Saratoga Avenue
San Jose, California 95129

Laser Eye Center of the East Bay
5790 Stoneridge Mall Road
Pleasanton, California 94588