System and method for treating vision refractive errors

Abstract

Disclosed is a computer-implemented method for correcting refractive errors in a living eye using a laser vision correction system that involves first calculating an amount of sphere based on preoperative manifest refraction and higher order aberrations data associated with the eye, and then correcting for the calculated amount of sphere by ablating at least a portion of the eye. The preoperative manifest refraction may include preoperative manifest sphere, preoperative spherical equivalent, regular astigmatism, and oblique astigmatism, and the preoperative higher-order aberrations may include 4th-order spherical and 3rd root mean square. Other factors may also be used to adjust the calculated amount of sphere. A device readable medium for storing the calculation and instructions for operating a laser vision correction system for practicing the method is also disclosed, as is a method of treating refractive errors.

1 . A computer-implemented method for correcting refractive errors in a living eye using a laser vision correction system, comprising the steps of:
 calculating an amount of sphere or astigmatism based on preoperative manifest refraction and preoperative higher order aberrations data associated with the eye; and   correcting for the calculated amount of sphere or astigmatism by ablating at least a portion of the eye.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the calculated amount of sphere or astigmatism is based on the optical interactions between higher order and lower order aberrations. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the higher order aberration is a 3rd, 4th, or combination of 3rd and 4th order aberration. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the preoperative manifest refraction comprises one or more of a preoperative manifest sphere amount, a preoperative spherical equivalent amount, a regular astigmatism amount, and an oblique astigmatism amount. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the preoperative higher order aberrations data are selected from the group consisting of 3rd through 10th order aberrations. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the preoperative higher-order aberrations comprise one or more of a 4th-order spherical aberration and a 3rd root mean square amount. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the preoperative manifest refraction comprises a preoperative manifest sphere amount, a preoperative spherical equivalent amount, a regular astigmatism amount, and an oblique astigmatism amount, and wherein the preoperative higher-order aberrations comprise a 4th-order spherical aberration and a 3rd root mean square amount. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising the step of providing a pre-programmed instruction on a device readable medium for controlling the laser vision correction system, wherein the device readable medium comprises a memory device containing the pre-programmed instruction and wherein the pre-programmed instruction includes the amount of sphere or astigmatism to be corrected. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising the step of providing the preoperative manifest refraction and higher order aberrations data based on a preoperative diagnostic examination of the eye. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising the step of adjusting the calculation of the amount of sphere or astigmatism based on at least one preoperative risk factor, wherein the at least one risk factor is selected from the group consisting of a combination comprising a high preoperative Coma and a low preoperative Δcylinder values, a combination comprising a high preoperative Δcylinder and a low preoperative Coma values, a combination comprising a preoperative wavefront cylinder being greater than a preoperative manifest cylinder values, and a combination comprising of a preoperative wavefront cylinder being less than a preoperative manifest cylinder values. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising the step of adjusting the calculation of the amount of sphere or astigmatism based on at least one preoperative risk factor, wherein the at least one risk factor is one of an age of the eye, a repeatability of the manifest refraction data, a repeatability and stability of a wavefront aberration, a predicted corneal healing response, a biomechanical structure of the eye. 
     
     
         12 . A method for correcting a refractive error in a living eye comprising the steps of:
 calculating an amount of sphere or astigmatism based on preoperative manifest refraction and preoperative higher order aberrations data associated with the eye;   entering at least the calculated sphere or astigmatism into a program code embedded on a storage medium readable by a laser ablation control system;   providing a laser platform operatively connected to the laser ablation control system, wherein the laser platform is adapted to ablating a portion of the eye according to the program code; and   causing the laser platform to ablate the portion of the eye using radiation.   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the preoperative manifest refraction data comprise a preoperative manifest sphere amount, a preoperative spherical equivalent amount, a regular astigmatism amount, and an oblique astigmatism amount, and wherein the higher-order aberrations data comprise a 4th-order spherical aberration and a 3rd root mean square amount. 
     
     
         14 . A system for correcting a refractive error in a living eye using a laser vision correction system comprising:
 a first calculation subsystem for calculating an amount of sphere or astigmatism based on preoperative manifest refraction and preoperative higher order aberrations data associated with the eye; and   a correcting subsystem for ablating at least a portion of the eye based on the calculated amount of sphere or astigmatism.   
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 14 , wherein the preoperative manifest refraction comprises one or more of a preoperative manifest sphere amount, a preoperative spherical equivalent amount, a regular astigmatism amount, and an oblique astigmatism amount. 
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 14 , wherein the preoperative higher-order aberrations comprise one or more of a 4th-order spherical aberration and a 3rd root mean square amount. 
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 14 , wherein the preoperative manifest refraction comprises a preoperative manifest sphere amount, a preoperative spherical equivalent amount, a regular astigmatism amount, and an oblique astigmatism amount, and wherein the higher-order aberrations comprise a 4th-order spherical aberration and a 3rd root mean square amount. 
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 14 , wherein the calculation of the amount of sphere or astigmatism is adjusted based on at least one preoperative risk factor, wherein the at least one risk factor is selected from the group consisting of a combination comprising a high Coma and a low Δcylinder values, a combination comprising a high Δcylinder and a low Coma values, a combination comprising a wavefront cylinder being greater than a manifest cylinder values, and a combination comprising of a wavefront cylinder being less than a manifest cylinder values. 
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 14 , wherein the calculation of the amount of sphere or astigmatism is adjusted based on at least one preoperative risk factor, wherein the at least one risk factor is one of an age of the eye, a repeatability of the manifest refraction data, a repeatability and stability of a wavefront aberration, a predicted corneal healing response, a biomechanical structure of the eye, temperature, and humidity. 
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 14 , further comprising a pre-programmed instruction on a device readable medium for controlling the laser vision correction system, wherein the device readable medium comprises a memory device containing the pre-programmed instruction and wherein the pre-programmed instruction includes the amount of sphere or astigmatism to be corrected. 
     
     
         21 . The system of  claim 14 , wherein the correcting subsystem for ablating at least a portion of the eye is used to correct one of myopia and hyperopia refractive errors. 
     
     
         22 - 25 . (canceled) 
     
     
         26 . A method for treating a refractive error of a living eye using a laser vision correction platform, comprising the steps of:
 conducting a diagnostic examination of the eye to obtain preoperative manifest refraction and preoperative wavefront analysis data associated with the eye;   providing the data to a device operatively connected to the laser vision correction platform, wherein the platform includes a laser adapted to irradiating a surface according one or more instructions stored on a device readable medium, and wherein the one or more instructions is based on the preoperative data; and   causing the laser vision correction platform to ablate at least a portion of the eye to at least partially correct the refractive errors.   
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 26 , wherein the preoperative manifest refraction data comprise one or more of a preoperative manifest sphere amount, a preoperative spherical equivalent amount, a regular astigmatism amount, and an oblique astigmatism amount, and wherein the preoperative wavefront analysis data comprise one or more of a 4th-order spherical aberration and a 3rd root mean square amount.