How the Eye Works?

Before undergoing the procedure, it is helpful to understand how the eye works. The eye is like a camera. The cornea is the clear, dome-shaped window that forms the front wall of the eye. The retina is the light-sensitive tissue in the back of the eye that connects to the brain and acts like the film in a camera. The cornea at the front of the eye acts as a lens that focuses light onto the retina, producing an image on the retina that gets transmitted to the brain and interpreted as vision. The combination of the curve of the cornea and the power of the lens in the eye determines the focusing power and whether the incoming light rays from distant objects focus directly onto the retina. When light does not focus directly on the retina, the eye has a refractive error. This means that with the appropriate “refractive correction” lens, incoming light rays become focused onto the retina producing clear vision.

RLE is performed on or around the natural lens of the eye. The globe of the eye possesses a transparent wall at the front called the cornea, which acts as the major focusing part of the eye (75%). The remaining focusing power of the eye is mostly in the lens of the eye (20%) and the tear film (5%). Consequently, changing the lens of the eye for one of a different power produces a permanent change in its focusing power.