Traditional LASIK surgery can provide excellent results when correcting a wide range of vision problems like nearsightedness, farsightedness, and astigmatism. These vision problems are known as lower order aberrations. CustomCornea®, delivered by the LADARVision® System, is a kind of LASIK procedure that takes a similar approach and can help with many of the same visual problems. However, CustomCornea® is different from traditional LASIK in two important respects: CustomCornea® goes beyond reshaping your cornea based on your prescription for eyeglasses or contacts. The procedure is completely customized to your eyes and your eyes alone. CustomCornea® can help with other vision problems that could not be detected previously, known as higher order aberrations. Experts believe these aberrations can contribute to vision problems such as glare, halos, and night vision problems. Higher order aberrations cannot be treated by traditional laser vision correction procedures, or even by wearing eyeglasses or contacts. In October 2002, CustomCornea® became the first laser vision correction procedure the FDA approved for customized LASIK surgery to treat higher order aberrations. CustomCornea® Steps There are three steps to every CustomCornea® procedure: Capture, Match, and Treat. Capture The LADARWave® wavefront device "captures" your eye's unique combination of higher and lower aberrations. The device creates a wavefront map of each eye by shining an eye-safe beam of laser light into the eye and measuring the reflected light waves as they pass through your visual system and exit the eye. Match The wavefront map for each eye is transferred to the laser system and converted to a guide for the laser. When both you and your doctor are ready for surgery to begin, the map is computer-matched with the eye's exact position, so the treatment is extremely precise. Since each eye has its own unique wavefront map, treatment with CustomCornea® is truly customized. Treat The cornea is precisely reshaped using the LADARVision® excimer laser, guided by the data from the wavefront map. The treatment is designed to correct your unique profile of both lower and higher order aberrations at the same time. Until now, laser vision correction, like glasses and contacts, could only correct the visual distortions caused by nearsightedness, farsightedness, and astigmatism. However, these three common types of vision distortions, called "lower order aberrations", are only responsible for 85% - 90% of the overall quality of your vision. There are other imperfections in your eyes' optical system that may affect the clarity of your vision and how well you see at night or in low light. Doctors call these visual distortions "higher order aberrations" and they can cause glare, shadows, halos, and other annoying visual effects. Unless these higher order aberrations are addressed along with the lower order aberrations, the quality of your vision may not be ideal, even if you have measurable vision of 20/20. The Next Steps We've upgraded to CustomCornea®, and now the highest quality of corrected vision is available to our patients. Ask us about this truly integrated technology that only Excimer Laser System can deliver. Together we can determine whether you are a candidate for CustomCornea®.