Cross Sectional Analysis of Impact of Seasonal Changes on Excimer Laser Ablation Performance on Polymethyl Methacrylate (PMMA)

Seasonal changes and varying degree of corneal hydration has been linked to excimer laser corneal ablation rates. The use of PMMA as a calibration material in refractive lasers is well established. However, PMMA ablation may be equally affected by seasonal variations in temperature and humidity, in turn affecting the calibration process. The aim of this work is to analyze the effect of seasonal changes in PMMA performance using SCHWIND AMARIS laser system. PET and PMMA ablations conducted in climate-controlled environment with 826 consecutive AMARIS systems manufactured over 6 years were retrospectively analyzed. Lasers were stratified depending on seasons and months of the year. Metrics like single laser pulse fluence, nominal number of laser pulses, mean performance, standard deviation, and technical performance of system were compared to global average values. Cyclic winter–summer variation was confirmed with seasons winter and summer showing statistically significant variations with respect to global values. Metric technical performance showed deeper PMMA ablation performance in summertime, with maximum seasonal deviation of 6%. Results were consistently confirmed in seasonal as well as monthly analyses. These findings could help minimize variance among laser systems by implementing compensation factors depending on seasons such that laser systems installed worldwide follow the same trend line of variation.