A laser eye surgical system, comprising: a laser source for generating a pulsed laser beam; an imaging system comprising a detector; shared optics configured for directing the pulsed laser beam to an object to be sampled and confocally deflecting back-reflected light from the object to the detector; a controller operatively coupled to the laser source, the imaging system and the shared optics, the controller configured to: (a) receive one or more parameters defining one or more ocular incisions; (b) image the eye with the imaging apparatus and identify an expected scan location within the image corresponding to the one or more ocular incisions based on the one or more parameters, wherein the image comprises an array of pixels; (c) scan the focal point of a laserbeam; (d) detect luminescence from the regionscanned; (e) identify the actual scanned location within the image based on the detected luminescence; and (f) provide a warning to the user if a difference between the actual scanned location and the expected is not within a predetermined threshold value, wherein the controller is further configured to: periodically re-image the eye, thereby obtaining one or more successive images; and identify an actual scanned location by comparing a detected luminescence of a same pixel in the array between two of the successive images. a laser source for generating a pulsed laser beam; an imaging system comprising a detector; shared optics configured for directing the pulsed laser beam to an object to be sampled and confocally deflecting back-reflected light from the object to the detector; a controller operatively coupled to the laser source, the imaging system and the shared optics, the controller configured to: (a) receive one or more parameters defining one or more ocular incisions; (b) image the eye with the imaging apparatus and identify an expected scan location within the image corresponding to the one or more ocular incisions based on the one or more parameters, wherein the image comprises an array of pixels; (c) scan the focal point of a laserbeam; (d) detect luminescence from the regionscanned; (e) identify the actual scanned location within the image based on the detected luminescence; and (f) provide a warning to the user if a difference between the actual scanned location and the expected is not within a predetermined threshold value, (a) receive one or more parameters defining one or more ocular incisions; (b) image the eye with the imaging apparatus and identify an expected scan location within the image corresponding to the one or more ocular incisions based on the one or more parameters, wherein the image comprises an array of pixels; (c) scan the focal point of a laserbeam; (d) detect luminescence from the regionscanned; (e) identify the actual scanned location within the image based on the detected luminescence; and (f) provide a warning to the user if a difference between the actual scanned location and the expected is not within a predetermined threshold value, wherein the controller is further configured to: periodically re-image the eye, thereby obtaining one or more successive images; and identify an actual scanned location by comparing a detected luminescence of a same pixel in the array between two of the successive images.