The History of Lasik Surgery
Lasik eye surgery, or Laser Assisted In-Situ Keratomileusis, developed over the course of one hundred years. Knowledge of the eye in conjunction with sophisticated surgical techniques culminated in many Europeans acknowledging the possibility of radial keratotomy. Japanese doctors in the 1930's also saw this potential. However, it was not until the 1970's Russia that it was actually put to physical test. A Dr. Fyodorov was treating a young boy. The boy had fallen, and his glasses had broken and cut into his eye. Rather than significantly hurting the boy, the damage was minimal and simply shaved a layer off of the outer surface of the eye. The boy, previously very myopic (nearsighted) had improved vision in that eye. Dr. Fyodorov was intrigued and studied the matter. He published his discoveries, but it was not until American doctors with adequate funding could begin serious research and computer models of the procedure. It was Dr. Leo Bores who brought the procedure to the U.S. after witnessing it performed in the former U.S.S.R. It was also the Americans who were able to feasibly include a laser in the process. Previous to the laser, radial keraotomy was performed with traditional surgical tools. Though imprecise and not always a success, over 2 million people had the surgery performed before the advent of the laser assisted surgery. It was in 1978 that American doctors realized the potential of the surgery coupled with an Excimer laser. Dr. Srinivasin first used the Excimer laser on other biological tissue, and later Dr. Steven Trokel, an opthalmologist used the laser on the cornea. Since its commercial introduction in 1987, over 2 million additional patients of the surgery have experienced significant vision improvement. It is estimated that about 1 million people went under the laser to improve their vision with laser surgery in the year 2000.
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