An ophthalmic surgical laser system for creating a corneal flap on a subject's eye,comprising: a laser delivery system; a suction ring configured to overlay an anterior surface of the subject's eye, the suction ring operatively coupled to a patient interface, wherein the patient interface is coupled to the laser delivery system; an imaging system operatively coupled to the laser delivery system and configured to capture a digital image of the subject's eye with the suction ring overlaying the anterior surfaceof the eye, wherein the digital image contains one or more Purkinje reflections of structured light; a computer-readable medium having a set of instructions that, when executed by a processor, identifies an optimum location for creating the corneal flap, wherein the set of instructions comprise: identifying one or more anatomical reference points in digital image captured bythe imaging system; based on the Purkinje reflections, generating a data set of information on the orientation and position of the visual axis as well as the apex of the cornea; linking the visual axis orientation and corneal apex to the anatomical reference points; calculating the location of the suction ring coupled to the patient interface relative to the reference points; and identifying a location on the cornea to create the flap based on the location of the suction ring coupled to the patient interface relative to the reference points on the cornea and the data set. a laser delivery system; a suction ring configured to overlay an anterior surface of the subject's eye, the suction ring operatively coupled to a patient interface, wherein the patient interface is coupled to the laser delivery system; an imaging system operatively coupled to the laser delivery system and configured to capture a digital image of the subject's eye with the suction ring overlaying the anterior surfaceof the eye, wherein the digital image contains one or more Purkinje reflections of structured light; a computer-readable medium having a set of instructions that, when executed by a processor, identifies an optimum location for creating the corneal flap, wherein the set of instructions comprise: identifying one or more anatomical reference points in digital image captured bythe imaging system; based on the Purkinje reflections, generating a data set of information on the orientation and position of the visual axis as well as the apex of the cornea; linking the visual axis orientation and corneal apex to the anatomical reference points; calculating the location of the suction ring coupled to the patient interface relative to the reference points; and identifying a location on the cornea to create the flap based on the location of the suction ring coupled to the patient interface relative to the reference points on the cornea and the data set. identifying one or more anatomical reference points in digital image captured bythe imaging system; based on the Purkinje reflections, generating a data set of information on the orientation and position of the visual axis as well as the apex of the cornea; linking the visual axis orientation and corneal apex to the anatomical reference points; calculating the location of the suction ring coupled to the patient interface relative to the reference points; and identifying a location on the cornea to create the flap based on the location of the suction ring coupled to the patient interface relative to the reference points on the cornea and the data set.