What happens if I move my eyes during laser vision correction?
One of the most common fears of patients preparing for laser vision correction is that they will not lie still and without blinking their eyes, which will nullify the entire operation. This is an unnecessary concern!
Modern laser devices have the function of tracking eye movements (e.g. Eye Tracker 6D or 7D system), so they are very precise. Patients don’t have to worry that a slight movement of their eye will cause the procedure to fail. Even if you cough or sneeze or move your eyes even a fraction of a millimeter, the eye tracking system will take control of the situation. Also in case of nystagmus, laser treatment is possible!
From there, blinking during the procedure is not possible, as a dilation is inserted outside the eye to prevent involuntary movement of the upper eyelids.
Incredible advances in laser technology and individual surgical techniques, as well as the support of artificial intelligence at every stage of the diagnostic process and during ophthalmic surgery, unimaginably facilitate, accelerate and increase the safety of every procedure of laser vision correction.
What the eyetracker system is all about
With eyetracking technology, it is possible to take up to 500-1000 images of your eye per second! Based on these images, the laser device is able to determine whether your eye is in the correct position. If not, there is immediate compensation for any movement that could affect the architecture of the procedure. This amazing technology means that even if you move your eye, blink, sneeze, or even… fall off the bed or bolt for a run, it won’t affect the outcome of the surgery.
In other words: the eyetracker system used during laser vision correction checks the position of the patient’s eyeball in real time, at an incredible frequency (e.g., 1,000 times per second), and if even the slightest movement is detected, it immediately stops the laser, thus eliminating the risk of damage to the eye.
The AMARIS 1050 RS excimer laser from Schwind used at the SwissLaser clinic, for example, has an extremely fast 7D seven-dimensional eye tracking system with a video camera that monitors eye movement without time delay during lasing. With the Schwind AMARIS 1050 RS, both Wavefront and personalized treatments based on individual corneal data (topo guided) are possible.
The combination of the world’s leading excimer laser with an extremely precise eye-tracking system contribute to optimum vision improvement.
Modern eye-tracking devices are capable of placing the laser spot to within a tenth of a millimeter. Different lasers have different spot sizes, so the size of the laser spot used in the laser during the procedure will depend on the clinic you choose.
Did you know that.
Eyetracking, or eye-tracking technology, is used not only in refractive surgery.
- Studies have shown that eyetracking can be helpful in diagnosing autism, as well as various neurological disorders. It is also used in a variety of psychological tests, such as the latent association test (IAT) or studies to help understand how our divisibility of attention works.
- With eyetrackers, it is possible for people with disabilities to communicate with people without them: they can use eye movements to control a computer when they are unable to use a mouse, keyboard or voice.
- The most well-known is the use of eye tracking technology in neuromarketing. With an eye tracker, it is possible to determine what users pay the most attention to when browsing websites, advertisements or product packaging, and this makes it possible to design website content in such a way that it effectively reaches the greatest number of consumers.
- Eyetrackers are used in VR, or augmented reality, glasses.