A corneal sculpting system utilized for performing surgery to reshape the cornea of the eye. The system includes a laser delivery system that is coupled to a filter positioning system and a corneal topography system. The filter positioning system suspends a sculpting filter above the surface of the cornea. The sculpting filter controls the level of tissue removal that occurs in each area of the cornea by absorbing a certain percentage of the incident laser energy in various areas of the filter. The positioning system also has a conduit for delivering water to the corneal surface. A thin layer of water is heated by the application of the laser to cause microexplosions that dislodge and propel the tissue to ablate the cornea. The corneal topography system provides real time feedback on the curvature of the cornea, before during and after the surgery.
