Custom Wavefront LASIK


While conventional LASIK, or Laser in-Situ Keratomileusis, has been a complete revolution in vision correction, Dr. Coleman from ColemanVision in Albuquerque also offers the latest in laser vision correction technology: Custom Wavefront LASIK. Custom Wavefront LASIK is a procedure that enables your surgeon to further customize the conventional LASIK procedure to your individual eyes. This customized procedure may result in patients seeing clearer and sharper than ever before. FDA studies show that Custom Wavefront LASIK may produce better vision than is possible with contact lenses or glasses.

● In clinical studies, Custom Wavefront LASIK has been able to provide patients with: A greater chance of having 20/20 vision
● The potential for better vision than is possible with contacts or glasses
● Less incidence of glare and halos
● Potentially better overall vision, even at night.

Better Quality Vision
Clinical studies have shown that Custom Wavefront LASIK may improve not only what you see but also how well you see it. In the past, all vision was measured using a standard vision chart. If you could see the letters, the doctor would use that measurement for how well you could see. But now, with Custom Wavefront LASIK, doctors are able to focus on the quantity as well as the quality of your vision. Many patients who have had Custom Wavefront LASIK are reporting the ability to see clearer than ever before.


Custom Wavefront LASIK is the most advanced laser eye technology available.

Custom Wavefront LASIK allows the doctor to customize the LASIK treatment to the specific vision needs of the individual patient, creating a truly unique LASIK surgery procedure. Because this method of LASIK surgery is designed to the needs of the individual patient, Custom Wavefront LASIK provides the best results possible for each patient.


Custom Wavefront LASIK – Necessary For Some, Desirable For Most

There are many forms of imperfect vision. These forms fall into one of two groups – they are either lower-order aberrations or higher-order aberrations.

Lower-order aberrations are the refractive errors – nearsightedness, farsightedness, and astigmatism. When a patient can’t see the eye chart clearly, that is a lower-lever aberration.

Higher-order aberrations are responsible for quality of vision, such as crispness, clarity, and color contrast. Higher-order aberrations can significantly interfere with vision, especially night vision. People with higher-order aberrations often see halos or starbursts around lights, or have less contrast sensitivity.

Before Custom Wavefront LASIK was developed, LASIK treatments took a “one size fits all” approach, and this approach was quite successful for many patients. Conventional LASIK treatments measured and corrected the patient’s lower-order aberrations but could not measure or correct the patient’s higher-order aberrations.

For patient’s whose vision problems were caused by lower-order aberrations and had few or no higher-order aberrations, conventional LASIK worked quite well. But patients with extreme refractive errors or unique vision problems attributable to higher-order aberrations either weren’t eligible for LASIK or continued to have visual problems after LASIK. Because their higher-order aberrations were not corrected by the conventional LASIK procedure, these patients experienced side effects such as glare, starbursts, and halos.

Custom Wavefront LASIK detects, measures and corrects both lower-order and higher-order aberrations. Just as each patient has his or her own unique DNA and fingerprint, each patient’s cornea has its own unique way of focusing light that includes unique lower-order and higher-order aberrations.

Instead of a one-size-fits-all approach, Custom Wavefront LASIK takes the eye’s full measurements and develops a LASIK procedure unique to the patient’s eyes – a procedure that will work on no other patient.


How Does Custom Wavefront LASIK Work?

Custom Wavefront LASIK works by creating a LASIK procedure that is truly unique to the patient’s individual eyes. Because of this, Custom Wavefront LASIK patients experience a faster recovery time, less visual side effects, crisper vision and enhanced contrast sensitivity, and vision that is often 20/20 or better.

Custom Wavefront LASIK uses a technologically advanced device called a wavefront analyzer to measure the way light travels through a patient’s eye. The wavefront analyzer takes the patient’s measurement (including both lower-order and higher-order aberrations) and compares it to the way light travels through an eye that sees with perfect vision. The wavefront analyzer then takes the difference between these two measurements to create a 3-D wavefront map. This 3-D map details the exact cornea reshaping necessary to correct the patient’s vision to 20/20 or better. This 3-D map is transmitted to the laser surgery equipment to be used during the patient’s LASIK surgical procedure.

Because the patient’s eye is precisely mapped, the success rate for Custom Wavefront LASIK is very high. Most patients notice improvement in vision the minute they sit up after the procedure. Improvements continue and vision stabilizes over the next few weeks. In fact, a few weeks after Custom Wavefront LASIK, many patients have vision that is 20/20 or better!

The 3-D wavefront mapping decreases a patient’s chance of developing vision side effects that were common with conventional LASIK, especially in patients with higher-order aberrations or unique vision issues. Custom Wavefront LASIK patients experience fewer post-surgery vision problems, such as halos, glare, and night vision difficulties. This is because the wavefront mapping took into account the patient’s higher-order aberrations that could not be corrected with conventional LASIK.


Walk Me Through a Custom Wavefront LASIK Procedure

The first step of the Custom Wavefront LASIK procedure is to the map the patient’s eyes. A device called a wavefront analyzer measures the way light travels through the patient’s eyes. The patient’s measurement is compared to the measurement obtained from light traveling through a perfect eye. The difference between the two measurements is used to create a 3-D wavefront map. The 3-D map is unique to the patient’s eye and is the measurement of the exact corneal reshaping necessary to provide the patient with 20/20 or better vision. This 3-D map is programmed into the laser that will be used during the patient’s Custom Wavefront LASIK procedure.

The Custom Wavefront LASIK procedure with Dr. Coleman takes approximately 15 minutes. The ophthalmologist talks the patient through the entire procedure. The patient’s eyes are numbed with eye drop anesthesia and recovery time is minimal. Most patients experience immediate vision improvement, with continuous improvement and vision stabilization occurring over the next few weeks.

Dr. Quiring monitors his Custom Wavefront LASIK patients for approximately 12 months after their surgery to ensure proper healing, healthy eyes, and optimal results.


Is Custom Wavefront LASIK For Everyone?

Even with this remarkable advance in LASIK technology, Custom Wavefront LASIK is not for everyone. People with certain eye diseases such as glaucoma and cataracts may not be good candidates for Custom Wavefront LASIK.

There are risk factors associated with Custom Wavefront LASIK.  Even with the advances of 3-D mapping, some patients experience night vision problems, such as halos and starbursts around lights – these problems can be especially burdensome while driving. Additional vision side effects are dry eyes that require the use of artificial teardrops to correct.