Computerized corneal topography and its importance to wavefront technology

Purpose. To review the development and application of corneal topography in refractive surgery. Methods. Review of the literature and discussion of recent developments in corneal topography and wavefront technology. Results. Analysis of corneal topography provides critical information for the preoperative examination of patients before refractive surgery and for the evaluation and treatment of patients with complications after surgery. Conclusions. Corneal topography will continue to be a critical diagnostic modality for refractive surgery. Even with the advent of wavefront analysis designed to detect refractive error and aberrations of the eye, it will be necessary to have detailed corneal topographic information to understand the contribution the cornea makes to vision so that custom alteration of that surface can be used to optimize vision. This will be true of the normal eye, but it will be of special importance in eyes with abnormalities that were induced by corneal surgery.