One of the most exciting developments in the field of medicine in recent years is the emergence of corrective eye surgery to restore normal vision to people with less than perfect vision.

Corrective eye surgery most commonly involves a variety of laser-aided, computer guided cutting techniques to reshape the cornea of the eye. In order to understand corrective eye surgery, it is useful to understand a little about how the eye works.

The eye is composed of many specialized components for gathering, focusing and interpreting light so that a visual image can be constructed by the brain. The components involved in corrective eye surgery are the components responsible for focusing light on the retina (the package of photoreceptors at the very back of the eye).

There are two components of the eye responsible for focusing light: the lens and the cornea. The lens resides behind the colored iris of the eye and is able to change shape slightly to provide fine adjustments for focusing light; but it is the cornea, the clear, curved portion right at the front of the eye that performs the major work of focusing.

Corrective eye surgery works by reshaping the cornea to provide optimal focusing of light on the retina. LASIK (laser assisted keratomilieusis) is the most common type of corrective eye surgery; LASIK and other similar types of laser corrective eye surgery employ a computer to map the shape of the cornea, determine the optimal shape and then guide a laser beam to finely cut away just enough of the cornea in just the right shape to achieve the optimal shape.

RK (radial keratotomy)is another common type of corrective eye surgery in which the eye surgeon makes tiny radial cuts in the margins of the cornea, causing it to flatten just the right amount to achieve perfect focus.

Other types of corrective eye surgery include photorefractive keratectomy (PRK), astigmatic keratotomy (AK) and automated lamellar keratoplasty (ALK). While the choice of corrective eye surgery technique is ultimately yours, your eye doctor can help you select the corrective eye surgery that is right for you.