SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR IMAGING CORNEAL PROFILES

摘要

Systems, methods and apparatus for generating images of portions of the patient's eye (E), such as the anterior surface of the cornea. The methods and apparatus of the present invention are particularly useful for directly imaging the profile of the ablated region of the cornea during or immediately following a laser ablation procedure such as photorefractive kerat-ometry (PRK), phototherapeutic keratectomy (PTK), laser in situ keratomileusis (LASIK) or the like. These methods and apparatus allow the surgeon to precisely image the exterior edge of the eye to characterize the profile of ablated corneas and to determine the spatial variance of tissue ablation rates during the surgical procedures. Methods and apparatus are also provided for generating one or more images (4, 20, 30, 26) depicting the profile of the ablated region of the cornea. The profile is registered with a pre-ablation profile to provide feedback regarding the true ablation properties of the eye. This feedback permits the laser system to be programmed with a laser ablation algorithm based on the measured ablation properties of the eye.