LASIK eye surgery – a laser reshaping of the cornea to improve vision – is one of the most popular elective surgeries in the United States, and a University of Houston professor of biomedical engineering intends to improve upon it by giving surgeons more information about the cornea before they begin.

Specifically, Kirill Larin wants to provide a measurement of corneal elasticity, a key component of visual acuity. Eye surgeons currently do not have a reliable method to perform a quantitative measurement of corneal elasticity in patients before the procedure.

“We will develop a novel method for the imaging and assessment of corneal elastic properties that could potentially be used for routine clinical diagnostics of different corneal diseases and treatment,” said Larin, who is using a $1.6 million continuation grant from the National Eye Institute to improve current Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) to provide ultrafast 3D clinical imaging. The technology will combine Brillouin microscopy with Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) and Optical Coherence Elastography (OCE) – creating the new BOE.