Star Wars technology could offer new hope to those experiencing problems after laser vision correction.

Cullom Eye and Laser Center creates advanced diagnostic testing program with Wavefront technology.

WILLIAMSBURG, VA, May 31, 2002 - More than a million people will have laser vision correction this year. Most of those will be very happy with their outcome, many able to see without glasses or contacts for the first time in years. A small minority will have ongoing frustration due to halos and glare, reduced contrast sensitivity or problems with night vision.

The new advanced diagnostic testing program at Cullom Eye and Laser Center is seeking solutions for these patients through new wavefront technology. This revolutionary program will be unique in this region.  Originally developed as part of the Star Wars anti-missile defense program and used by astronomers to enhance the images found through ground-based telescopes, wavefront technology is now positioned as possibly the biggest breakthrough in refractive surgery in years.

The first phase of the testing program involves the use of new wavefront diagnostic equipment. The Cullom Eye and Laser Center has had a jump start, having worked with this equipment when it first became available last year.  This equipment allows surgeons to measure "higher order" aberrations (imperfections) that are not currently measured by traditional means. Wavefront technology can detect these aberrations to provide a better, more accurate representation of the entire optical system. Clinical studies which couple these measurements with an excimer laser for a custom treatment are starting in the spring of 2002.

While this new technology has the potential to predict a more accurate treatment regimen for a new refractive patient, an even more important benefit lies in the possibility of treating residual aberrations in past refractive surgery patients. In many cases, these residual aberrations are the cause for glare, halo and poor contrast sensitivity. The ability to bring these patients to a greatly improved level of vision will be a pioneering step in the future of vision correction.

R. Douglas Cullom, M.D., director of refractive surgery at Cullom Eye and Laser Center believes that this new technology has great potential. "The advances in laser vision correction have been amazing. Millions of people are enjoying improved vision, but we're always looking for ways to make the process better - to take it to the next level. Wavefront could be the technology that takes us there."