Final answer:
In LASIK procedures, the cornea's radius of curvature is altered to correct vision: flattened for nearsightedness resulting in a larger radius, and enhanced for farsightedness leading to a smaller radius.
Step-by-step explanation:
During LASIK procedures, the goal is to alter the cornea's shape to correct vision issues such as nearsightedness or farsightedness. When the cornea is flattened in the case of nearsightedness, this effectively reduces its power, or diopters, leading to a larger radius of curvature.
Conversely, to correct farsightedness, the corneal curvature is enhanced, creating a smaller radius of curvature to increase the eye's power, mimicking the effect of positive power spectacle lenses. The precision of this reshaping is critical because even minor inaccuracies could lead to postoperative need for glasses or contacts. Therefore, the LASIK procedure uses computer-controlled high intensity electromagnetic radiation to precisely ablate and reshape the corneal surface layers achieving the desired vision correction.