DETECTING CORNEAL STRIAE AFTER LASIK SURGERY

DESCRIPTION: Excimer laser refractive surgery is a very poplar method for providing patients with better vision. Experts predict 1.7 million American patients will have this procedure performed this year. Approximately 95 percent of these patients will have he procedure termed LASIK. There are some important advantages that have caused LASIK to become he dominant technique. However, it has one drawback, that of striae or corneal wrinkling, due to the thin "flap" hat is created. Striae can cause vision problems ranging from glare to decreased acuity ad is created when the flap is not reattached uniformly. Most surgeons agree the problems exists in approximately 2-3 percent of LASIK patients, which means 40,000 patients will experience this problem this year. FEO Medical proposes to scan off-axis, monochromatic, near-infrared illumination around the cornea to create an edge enhancement effect to expose striae. An IR camera will capture each "scan" image followed by processing for edge variations (possible striae). During Phase I, FEO Medical will construct an IR ring illuminator; illuminate and videotape LASIK patients with possible striae: and design and implement an algorithm to detect the striae thus proving feasibility. This feasibility will establish a basis for the Phase II study and subsequent commercialization. PROPOSED COMMERCIAL APPLICATION: NOT AVAILABLE