[Aspheric profiles for refractive laser ablation of the cornea]

Conventional ablation profiles for excimer lasers for myopic refractive correction of the cornea are of spheric geometry. Therefore, they induce additional imaging aberrations into the optical system of the eye, most notably spherical aberration. This is a major cause of the observed deterioration of visual quality after such corrections, especially under low illumination and ensuing larger pupil diameter. Therefore, aspheric ablation profiles compromizing the preexisting imaging/visual quality of the eye as little as possible are currently being developed and optimized for all laser platforms. Employed methods include customized correction profiles on the basis of individual wavefront data of the anterior corneal topography on the one hand, and correction profiles that minimize the induced spherical aberration in a "standardized" way on the other hand. We demonstrate for a particular laser platform how such profiles must be developed and optimized. Mathematical theoretical calculations appear to be an indispensable but insufficient prerequisite. The biological reaction of the corneal stroma and epithelium ("biodynamic response") can only be determined experimentally and must lead to adjustment of the calculated ablation algorithm. The results show that aspheric profiles developed on this basis can lead to significant reduction of induced spherical aberration. The obtainable effect is, however, limited by the biological response and the ensuing peripheral ablation depth and volume.