Analysis of wavefront-guided corrections to see if they fully correct ocular aberrations

In a recent paper [J. Opt. Soc. Am. A22, 1473 (2005)], the authors concluded, as a result of analysis using an optical model of the eye, that wavefront-guided ablative correction of the refractive errors of the eye does not efficiently remove those errors. An analytical method is given that analyzes the effect of a wavefront-guided ablative treatment of the aberrations of the eye using only the measured wavefront error of the eye and a measured or assumed anterior corneal surface shape and shows that in fact a wavefront-guided ablative treatment does remove all clinically significant error of the eye if only the anterior surface of the cornea is physically altered as planned as a result of treatment. The use of a variation of the method to analyze the effect of treatment when other changes occur as a result of treatment is also given.