History of LASIK – From Bogota, Columbia to IBM to Today

Today’s LASIK eye surgery is far removed from its beginning many years ago. Through experimentation to the development of lasers it has been an ongoing process that continues today as doctors and scientists search for new and better ways to provide faster, cheaper, and more precise methods.

Modern day LASIK procedure had its start in Bogota, Columbia in 1950. Dr. Jose Barraquer invented the microkeratome. The microkeratome is a device that was used to cut the corneal flaps.

Progress and invention were continued through the following 10 years when Dr. Mani lal Bhaumik developed the Excimer laser. His findings were published in May of 1973. For the first time, the layers of the cornea could be cut without a blade.

In 1980 at an IBM research lab in California continued development of the laser as a tool for refractive surgery. This was done chiefly through the work of Dr. Gholam Peymon. Dr. Peymon was also granted the first patent for laser eye surgery.

In 1990 LASIK eye surgery was begun as we know it today. Since then over 8 billion people worldwide have had LASIK eye correction. With continuing improvements and advancements in LASIK eye correction surgery, today’s surgery is a far cry from its beginnings by Dr. Barraquer in 1950. With the developments that continue to be made LASIK surgery will continue to grow in popularity.

Today’s procedure is bladeless and done entirely with lasers. The lasers used today are more precise and faster than they have ever been before. As technology advances glasses and contact lenses may become a relic of the past. With luck we may only see glasses and contact lenses in museums. They will possibly go the way of the horse drawn carriages of the past.

We owe this progress to the many doctors and scientists who have worked on this process for the last 50 years. If not for their intelligence, research, and perseverance we now have the option to throw away those glasses.

Whether you need Wilmington North Carolina LASIK or Jacksonville North Carolina laser vision correction, the Myrtle Beach LASIK surgeons at Eye Associates of Wilmington can assist you.