APizzo667 wrote:
If most aberrometers only measure 6mm of the scoptic pupil, what information is being used in the worthless "blend zone"?
For example, in a patient with 9mm pupils, who had an aberrometer that only measured out to 6mm, where is the blend zone information coming from?
Anthony, the blend is just a small amount of laser energy applied outside the optical zone to prevent a sharp "drop-off" at the periphery of the treatment. There is no information coming from anywhere except the way the laser is programmed. It's just blasting tissue. I wish I could think of a good analogy to make you understand.
In my case, I was treated with a 6mm broad beam laser with NO BLEND which means there is a sharp transition from the treated area to the untreated area of my cornea... when my pupils dilate beyond the treated area the light passes through that sharp drop-off and light scatters like mad. I was a higher myope than you, which means my optical zone is even smaller... more like 5mm. The reason the industry moved away from using broad beam lasers with no blend to the newer technologies with blend zones and more laser energy applied in the periphery (wavefront) is because patients like me with large pupils were severely visually impaired by the older technology. The newer technology lessened the severity of the visual impairment, but it didn't fix the problem for patients with large pupils. Patients whose pupils are larger than the optical zone (not counting the blend) are not good candidates for LASIK.
APizzo667 wrote:
I don't know what's so magic about placing black tape over every power light in my bedroom so that little power light indicator on your cable box, tv, vcr, etc does not turn into a massive firework in the middle of the night. I am sure some of you know what I mean.
I know exactly what you mean. This is how I see headlights at night.
