Introduction LASIK

The introduction of lasers in refractive surgeries stemmed from Rangaswamy Srinivasan's work. In 1980, Srinivasan, working at IBM Research Lab, discovered that an ultraviolet excimer laser could etch living tissue in a precise manner with no thermal damage to the surrounding area. He named the phenomenon Ablative Photodecomposition (APD).

The use of the excimer laser to ablate corneal tissue for the correction of optical errors, such as myopia, hyperopia, and astigmatism, was first suggested by Stephen Trokel, MD, of the Edward S. Harkness Eye Institute, Columbia University, New York.

The first patent for LASIK was granted by the U.S. Patent Office to Dr. Gholam A. Peyman on June 20, 1989, U.S. Patent #4,840,175, "method for modifying corneal curvature," encompassing the surgical procedure in which a flap is cut in the cornea and pulled back to expose the corneal bed. The exposed surface is then ablated to the desired shape with an excimer laser, after which the flap is replaced.