does laser eye surgery affect night vision

Consider the Allegretto Wave Laser for LASIK

When someone decides that they want LASIK, they rarely consider the type of laser that will be used to fix their vision. While it is true that there are many different lasers used by ophthalmologists to correct myopia or hyperopia, you may want to know a little about the one that will be used on your eyes, especially if you are concerned about some of the side effects on your night vision that you may have heard about. Halos and glare are extremely rare, but they have a bothersome effect on LASIK patients. One of the latest generation lasers that can solve these types of issues is called the Allegretto Wave excimer laser.

The Food and Drug Administration approved the Allegretto Wave laser in 2003 for use with lasik surgery. Allegretto Wave uses PerfectPulse Technology. This technology basically means that the laser is calibrated for your individual eye and does not act as a blanket solution for all eyes. Think of your eye like a fingerprint: no one else has your exact eye. One of the problems with older lasers is that they may have acted as a one-size-fits-all solution. It is here where some of the problems with LASIK have occurred. With Allegretto Wave’s PerfectPulse Technology, the beam’s pulse hits your eye exactly where it should. Checkpoints are made even as the pulse works at 200 times per second. If an adjustment is needed, this can be done, if your eye moves out of the beam’s range, for example.

Allegretto Wave also uses something called wavefront-guided technology. This essentially creates a map of your eye. Because no two eyes are the same, the eye’s “cartography” is important at the microscopic level. Since the laser will be sculpting your cornea, it is necessary that a map be created so that the 200 pulses per second know where they’re going. When this is done, more corneal tissue is preserved.

One of the unique features about Allegretto Wave is that it is able to read a large optical zone. This is the zone of the pupil that is affected by night vision (the more light needed in the eye, the larger the pupil zone). Through reading and mapping the entire optical zone, the chances of halos and glare are nearly eliminated.

About the Author

If you are in the New York City, Manhattan, or Long Island, New York area and would like to learn more about the Allegretto Wave laser, please visit the website of board certified ophthalmologist Dr. James Kelly.