What Is Custom LASIK Surgery?
As its name implies, custom LASIK is a more specialized version of traditional LASIK eye surgery. Every custom LASIK procedure is slightly different, because each operation is tailored to address the unique ocular physiology of each patient. Not only does custom LASIK make refractive surgery an option for a wider array of patients, but in general it offers more effective results than standard LASIK procedures.
When is custom LASIK best?
LASIK originally became popular for its ability to treat common aberrations like astigmatisms and nearsightedness and farsightedness. Custom LASIK is used to treat smaller, less common aberrations of the eye. These “high order” aberrations cause conditions like glare, blurring, night vision issues and halos. The lasers traditionally used in LASIK are not calibrated to treat such conditions, but custom LASIK uses a new tool called a “wavefront analyzer” to map the shape of your eye and to track how each part of your eye processes light. This makes it possible to pinpoint and correct the tiny imperfections that create such aberrations.
How does custom LASIK work?
When it becomes clear that a potential LASIK patient is suffering from a high order aberration, then the eye doctor will use the wavefront analyzer to map out the eye. The wavefront technology analyzes the entire eye in a way that a surgeon never could, making it possible to identify defects that were previously untreatable. This map of a patient's eyes is then fed into the laser being used for the operation, where it is then used to guide the surgeon's corrections. Because custom LASIK is a high-precision surgery, the procedure rarely lasts more than ten minutes per eye.
Unique Benefits of Custom LASIK
Custom LASIK's most obvious advantage is its ability to treat aberrations that regular eye surgeries cannot. Whereas quality of vision has traditionally been judged by a person's ability to correctly identify an object at different distances, custom LASIK actually makes things clearer, sharper, and more defined. In other words, it can improve even 20/20 vision, and because it uses the same tools and procedures as regular LASIK, the risks and side effects associated with this eye surgery are still extremely low.