How Amazing Technology Is Used To Literally Map Out Your Cornea

Scientists and doctors have made amazing advances in the past decade in treating common vision problems. A big part of their advances have been made through a procedure called "corneal topography." Corneal topography is a computer-generated printout that shows your eye doctor the curvature and "hills" and "valleys" of the cornea. When your eye doctor studies one of these brightly colored maps, he can diagnose corneal shape abnormalities and monitor changes on the surface of your eye. Once the doctor understands the various elevation changes on your eye's surface, he or she can determine whether or not you are a candidate for refractive surgery. If you decide to have LASIK surgery, the doctor can take before and after pictures to show changes in corneal topography as a result of the surgery. The maps will show how the surgery has effected the dioptric (refractive) power of the cornea. Corneal topography will spot any complications from the surgery. If LASIK surgery is intended to cure nearsightedness, the new corneal topography analysis should show a flattening of the cornea.

Corneal topography maps the cornea using high resolution video cameras attached to a specially programmed computer to photograph both the eye's surface and profile. Every half-diopter change in elevation, which has a different light-focusing power, is represented by a different shade of color. The steeper curvatures, or "hills," are colored in shades of reds, oranges, and yellows while the flatter "valleys" are colored with shades of light and dark blue. The middle areas are green. In other words, the steepest elevations with greatest refractive power are bright red and the lowest elevations with the least dioptric power are dark blue.

Once your eye doctor has a corneal topography image, they will keep it as part of your medical history. The corneal topography chart will show the refractive power of many different points on the cornea and irregularities on its surface. Corneal topography gives the eye doctor a way to see astigmatism on paper. The doctor can then determine whether subclinical keratoconus (cone-shaped steepening and thinning of the cornea that causes irregular astigmatism) is the cause of astigmatism. This procedure also allows the doctor to diagnose subtle conditions with corneal topography that might be missed with less sophisticated tests.

Once your eye doctor has a map of your cornea, he or she can determine whether the astigmatism shown on the maps matches the power of your glasses. They don't always match. Sometimes astigmatism is caused by irregularities within the eye. Laser surgery will not correct this. Laser surgery only corrects astigmatism on the cornea. Corneal topography can help your doctor decide how much of your astigmatism can be treated with laser surgery.

Corneal topography also helps your eye doctor figure out which contact lens is best for you. Using the topographic map and computer programs, the eye doctor can "fit" contact lenses to your eye without ever having you put them on. Make sure you have your eyes examined on an annual basis.

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