Using computer models to help LASIK patients undergoing cataract surgery

Computational models incorporating anatomical information of post-LASIK patients could provide surgeons with guidance on expected optical quality following cataract surgery.

New research, which was published in Journal of Cataracts and Refractive Surgery, involved creating computational eye models with data from patients who have undergone laser eye surgery.

The University of Rochester team then analysed how standard intraocular lenses and lenses designed to increase depth of focus performed in these eyes.

Professor Susana Marcos shared that the models provide important insight to eye surgeons on expected optical quality post-operatively.

“Currently the only pre-operative data used to select the lens is essentially the length and curvature of the cornea,” she said.

“This new technology allows us to reconstruct the eye in three dimensions, providing us the entire topography of the cornea and crystalline lens, where the intraocular lens is implanted. When you have all this three-dimensional information, you’re in a much better position to select the lens that will produce the best image at the retinal plane,” Marcos emphasised.

Alongside this research, Marcos and her collaborators are developing technology to help patients see what their vision will be like with different lens options.

“When surgeons are planning the surgery, it is very difficult for them to convey to the patients how they are going to see. A computational, personalised eye model indicates which lens is the best fit for the patient’s eye anatomy, but patients want to see for themselves,” Marcos explained.