Questions about CustomVue

- February 14, 2007 - What is a laser?
It"s a type of light beam which is man-made for a certain purpose. There are many types of lasers, named according to how they"re created, e.g. solid state lasers, gas lasers, and semiconductor lasers.
They all have some features in common which differentiate them from other types of light, such as sunshine, flashlights, neon lights etc.
· They"re directional - very focused, rather than diffuse like a flashlight.
· They"re monochromatic - they contain only one color, as opposed to white light which contains all colors. They can be within our visual range of color, infra-red, or ultra-violet.
· They"re coherent - the light particles, or photons, all move in step with each other and create wavefronts that begin in unison.
CustomVue uses the Visx Star S4 excimer laser. Excimer lasers are named from "excited" and "dimer" and use a mix of reactive and inert gases to create the laser light (a "dimer" is a pseudo-molecule which gives off ultraviolet light when it"s in an excited state).
How is the laser used for vision correction?
The Visx S4 laser is used at two stages of vision correction:
· Diagnosis
· Corneal reshaping
Before your vision can be corrected, detailed information must be garnered from a scan of each of your eyes. This is done using Wavefront technology called the WaveScan WaveFront System, which:
· Was FDA-approved in 2002
· Measures imperfections in your eye with extreme precision
· Produces a detailed map of your eye
· Generates digital information which will be used to guide the laser in correcting your eyesight
What does Wavefront mean?
Light is thought of as traveling in waves (although sometimes it"s thought of as traveling in particles, but that"s another discussion).
· The Wavefront system sends a wave of light through your iris to the back of your eye, the retina
· The wave then bounces off the retina and returns to the system, bringing digital information about the contours of your eye
· Using this information, the system makes a 3-D map which can be seen on its computer screen
· The system also generates mathematical formulae which your eye doctor uses to guide the laser in correcting your vision
What"s meant by higher order aberrations?
There are different kinds of imperfections that can be found in our eyes, causing imperfect vision. These imperfections are referred to as aberrations, and are divided into two groups:
· Lower order aberrations - nearsightedness, farsightedness and astigmatism
· Higher order aberrations -- haloes, glare and double vision (which particularly show up in night vision)
Eye doctors have been able to correct for lower order aberrations for many years. The higher order aberrations can now also be corrected, using a laser system.
What makes CustomVue a better procedure?
Precision. When you have this procedure done, the visual correction is unique to you. Because the WaveScan technology can obtain such exact measurements of your eye"s contours, it can guide the laser with precision in correcting them.
This means that you can potentially achieve the full potential of your vision and be even better than 20/20. The Visx company did a study as part of applying for FDA approval, and found that a year after having CustomVue procedures:
· All study participants passed driving tests without glasses or contacts
· 98% of them could see 20/20 or better without glasses or contacts
· 70% of them could even see 20/16 or better without glasses or contacts
A CustomVue procedure is comfortable and easy. The system is an integrated workstation which includes a highly adjustable patient chair along with the microscope, computer, and controls of all kinds for your eye doctor to operate it with.

14.02.2007 - 12:22 Quelle: 24-7pressrelease.com | Gelesen: 837 X