An offshoot of NASA's ill-fated Star Wars defense program is helping clear up low to moderate nearsightedness and astigmatism with a new "flying spot" laser system. Using lasers to correct vision is all the rage these days as doctors are setting up shop in malls around the country.
Clinical trials done by the American Academy of Opthalmology uses the system in which a small-beam laser pulses 55 times a second, directed by a corneal tracking device that scans the eye position 4,000 times a second.
It's called a "flying spot" because the laser beam hops from one side of the cornea to the other allowing for thermal relaxation of the tissue. Then the laser gently reshapes the cornea, correcting the vision. Researchers say most eyes heal within four days and no one in clinical trials came away with poorer vision than they started with.
