Clearview Eye and Laser Medical Center

Cornea is the name of the clear front part of the eye, through which we can see the person’s colored iris and the black pupil. It’s curved and translucent. All curved and translucent objects accept light rays and bend them as they pass through it.

The cornea bends light entering the eye. That light continues on through the eye's lens, which is another curved, translucent object and bends it more. If it's a 20/20 eye, those light rays will now focus clearly on the retina, the “camera film” at the back of the eye.

Refractive therapy (surgery) works on the cornea's curvature. Refraction is the technical term for bending of light.

• In a farsighted eye, the cornea is too flat
• In a nearsighted eye, the cornea is too steep
• In an astigmatic eye, the cornea is football-shaped instead of round

So LASIK and other refractive therapies use a laser to subtly change the cornea's shape by vaporizing microscopically tiny pieces. This is done according to a minutely worked-out treatment plan.

At Clearview Eye and Laser Medical Center in San Diego, California, we use a computerized diagnostic system called the WaveScan wavefront system. It makes a colored three-dimensional map of each eye. We use those two maps to develop an exact treatment plan for each eye.

When the cornea's curvature is subtly changed in the correct ways for you, your vision is suddenly far clearer, and usually our patients are able to discard their glasses or contact lenses.

• LASIK
• PRK
• IntraLase
• Presbyopia
• Implantable Contact Lenses
• Intacs
• Cataracts
• BOTOX®

Previous Posts

• Cataract Symptoms
• Farsightedness vs. Presbyopia
• Farsightedness
• The San Diego Fires and Providing Eye Care
• Lasers Used for Vision Correction
• The Safety of IntraLase
• Toss Those Reading Glasses
• Welcome