Patent ID: 7168807

Claim:
A method of determining an optical surface model for an optical tissue system of an eye, the method comprising: a) inputting optical data from the optical tissue system of the eye, the optical data comprising a set of local gradients corresponding to an area within an aperture, the set of local gradients comprising valid data and a missing or erroneous data; b) establishing a first combined gradient field by, within the area corresponding to the aperture, replacing the missing or erroneous data of the set of local gradients with a first gradient field data, such that the first combined gradient field comprises the valid data and the replacement first gradient field data; c) deriving a first reconstructed wavefront by applying a first Fourier transform to the first combined gradient field; d) providing a first revised gradient field via an inverse Fourier transform of the first reconstructed wavefront; e) establishing a second combined gradient field by: replacing a portion of the first revised gradient field with the valid data, the replaced portion corresponding to the valid data within the area corresponding to the aperture, and retaining a portion of the first revised gradient field, the retained portion corresponding to the missing or erroneous data within the area corresponding to the aperture; f) deriving a second reconstructed wavefront by applying a second Fourier transform to the second combined gradient field; and g) determining the optical surface model based on the second reconstructed wavefront.