What is a wavefront or aberrometry measurement?
It maps how light is distorted as it passes through your eye, including distortions beyond the ordinary prescription, called higher-order aberrations. Some surgical planning uses it to decide whether a customised treatment is appropriate.
- Subject
- Surgery journey
- Topic
- Eye tests & scans
- Kind of question
- What is…
- Last reviewed
- 22 September 2026
In more detail
The measurement is genuinely useful in some eyes and not in others, and it is one of the things a clinic charges for. The question worth asking is whether the treatment it would change is one you are being offered, rather than whether the measurement is available.
What this answer depends on
- Whether your aberrations are above the ordinary range
- Whether your prescription is stable enough to plan around
- Whether the platform supports a customised treatment
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Where this answer sits
It is one of 483 answers in the vision and eye health knowledge base, filed under The surgery journey in Eye tests & scans . The subject page carries the answers either side of it, and the hub is searchable.
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This information is for educational purposes and does not replace an examination by a qualified eye-care professional.
General answers cannot tell you what is happening in your own eyes. Only an examination by a qualified ophthalmologist can do that.
Sources & further reading
We prefer primary sources. Where a claim comes from a manufacturer, a single study or a regulator, it is labelled as such below.
- EyeSmart: eye health information for the public
Patient-facing material from the largest ophthalmology professional body, covering conditions, tests and treatments outside refractive surgery.
Used for Cross-checking patient-facing explanations of non-refractive eye conditions; Describing what tests such as dilation and OCT involve.
Link checked 23 September 2026