Today, LASIK is one of the most effective and popular elective procedures in the world, but the key developments in its history took over a century to unfold.
Early Days in the History of LASIK Eye Surgery
Surgical solutions to refractive errors of the eye date back as far back as the 19th century. In 1898, a method known as Radial Keratotomy (RK) was introduced to treat conditions such as nearsightedness. This method involved making tiny radial incisions in the corneal surface. It met with only limited success because it relied heavily on the manual skills of the surgeon.
In the early 1960s, a Colombian ophthalmologist named Dr. José Barraquer developed a technique called keratomileusis, a Greek term that literally means "carving the cornea" according to ONE Network. At the time, he used a surgical blade called a microkeratome to remove a piece of corneal tissue which was frozen, reshaped, and reattached to the surface of the eye.
The Game Changer: The Excimer Laser
Even greater strides were made in the history of LASIK eye surgery with the arrival and application of the excimer laser in the 1970s. This ultraviolet laser was originally developed for the computer industry to perform precision etching in the manufacture of microelectronic devices.
In 1980, a research team at IBM discovered that this laser could also cut biological tissue with extreme precision and accuracy without damaging the surrounding area. This lead to its medical application in a process called Photorefractive Keratectomy (PRK). In PRK, the outer layer, or epithelium, of the cornea is removed, and the exposed corneal stroma is reshaped using the excimer laser.
Finally, LASIK is Born!
The last step in the history of LASIK eye surgery came in the early 1990s, when Greek ophthalmologist Dr. Pallikaris combined the use of the microkeratome and the excimer laser. As ONE Network notes, this created what we now know as LASIK, an acronym for "Laser-Assisted In-Situ Keratomileusis." In this surgery, the microkeratome is used to create a thin flap in the cornea, and the excimer laser is used to reshape the underlying corneal tissue. The flap is then folded back into place, and natural healing processes begin to reseal the cut very quickly.
Recent Innovations in the History of LASIK Eye Surgery
The FDA officially approved the use of LASIK in 1999. In 2001, the FDA approved "bladeless" LASIK or IntraLASE, in which the surgeon uses a femtosecond laser instead of the microkeratome blade to make the corneal flap incision. Dr. J. Trevor Woodhams was the first eye surgeon in Georgia to perform this blade-free procedure. In 2002, the FDA also approved the use of Wavefront or CustomVue technology. This is a corneal mapping process that creates a guide for the laser and provides a personalized treatment for correction with even higher prescriptions, thin corneas, or large pupils.
