US Patent 8182472 Intrastromal refractive correction systems and methods

Devices, systems, and methods for laser eye surgery selectively ablate tissues within the cornea of an eye along one or more target surfaces, so that corneal tissue bordered by the laser incision surface(s) can be mechanically removed. An appropriate tissue-shaping surface can be selected based on the regular refractive error of the eye, and a shape of the target laser surface(s) can be calculated so as to correct irregular refractive errors of the eye, impose desired additional sphero-cylindrical and/or irregular alterations.