Monday, January 31, 2005

The Wavefront Analysis

Filed under: Ophthalmology

In case you've missed it, it is Cataract Awareness Month. Cataracts are a common problem among elderly, diabetics, etc. One of the most common ways to treat cataracts involves surgery, during which a new intraocular lens is implanted. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports about new advances in ophthalmology being made, one of which involves the use of a technology called wavefront analyzer, that one day might allow the manufacture of intraocular lenses designed for each individual patient:

Testing is under way on a further refinement involving a device called a wavefront analyzer. The device measures the way light travels through a cataract patient's entire optical pathway, then compares it to the way light travels through an optically perfect eye.

The information from this device can be used to create lenses crafted to address the specific irregularities of a person's visual system.

"That's still in the testing stages, but it could eliminate some of the distortion that patients complain of," Steinemann said.

WaveFront Sciences, Inc. is one of the manufacturers of ophthalmic wavefront analysis systems. If you are curious about the science of wavefront analysis, the company provides an explanatory webpage. If you want to see WaveFront Sciences' wavefront analysis system, check out this page...

                (0)