How are the aberrations described mathematically?
Zernike polynomials are mathematical descriptions of aberrations in vision. There are different “orders” or levels of polynomials. The low-level polynomials describe nearsightedness, farsightedness, and astigmatism, which are aberrations easily treated with glasses, or with traditional LASIK. Higher-order polynomials are more recently described aberrations which affect vision, like coma, trefoil and spherical aberration. There are over a dozen higher-order aberrations–this chart graphically depicts some of the more common higher-order aberrations. Wavefront Guided LASIK or wavefront-based LASIK can treat higher-order aberrations. Click here to email Dr.
