The Corneal Modeling System is presented as an integrated instrument system designed to give the corneal surgeon the capability of measuring and designing alterations of corneal shape that are comparable to the computer-aided design (CAD) capability used in aerospace design and other industries. The system provides realtime digital video image acquisition using a high-resolution, cylindrical photokeratoscope and scanning laser slit lamp. From these digitized images, the system's computer derives topographic and pachymetric information in sufficient density to produce a continuous mathematical function that represents both the front and the back surface of the cornea. The mathematical model may then be sampled in as many points as the clinical application requires, in the form of either computer graphics or a numerical data stream to control precision machinery to make contact lenses or tissue lenses. Representative computer graphics of normal and pathologic corneal conditions are presented.