Editing LASIK (section)

== History ==

=== Barraquer's early work ===
In the 1950s, the [[microkeratome]] and [[keratomileusis]] technique were developed in [[Bogotá]], Colombia, by the [[Spain|Spanish]] ophthalmologist [[Jose Barraquer|José Barraquer]]. In his clinic, he would cut thin (one hundredth of a mm thick) flaps in the [[cornea]] to alter its shape. Barraquer also investigated how much of the cornea had to be left unaltered in order to provide stable long-term results.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Troutman RC, Swinger C | title = Refractive keratoplasty: keratophakia and keratomileusis | journal = Transactions of the American Ophthalmological Society | volume = 76 | pages = 329–39 | year = 1978 | pmid = 382579 | pmc = 1311630 }}</ref>

=== Laser refractive surgery ===
In 1980, [[Rangaswamy Srinivasan]], [[Samuel E. Blum]], and [[James J. Wynne]] at the [[IBM Research]] laboratory, discovered that an ultraviolet excimer laser could etch living tissue, with precision and with no thermal damage to the surrounding area. The phenomenon was termed "ablative photo-decomposition" (APD).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.aip.org/ca/srinivasan.html |title=Prize for the Industrial Application of Physics Winner |website=American Institute of Physics |access-date=10 December 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110928093030/http://www.aip.org/ca/srinivasan.html |archive-date=28 September 2011 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title=James Wynne | url=https://laserfest.org/lasers/pioneers/wynne.cfm | website=laserfest.org | access-date=30 December 2021 | archive-date=5 February 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230205044704/https://laserfest.org/lasers/pioneers/wynne.cfm | url-status=dead }}</ref>
Five years later, in 1985, Steven Trokel at the Edward S. Harkness Eye Institute, [[Columbia University]] in New York City, published his work using the excimer laser in radial keratotomy. He wrote,
:"The central corneal flattening obtained by radial diamond knife incisions has been duplicated by radial laser incisions in 18 enucleated human eyes. The incisions, made by 193 nm far-ultraviolet light radiation emitted by the excimer laser, produced corneal flattening ranging from 0.12 to 5.35 diopters. Both the depth of the corneal incisions and the degree of central corneal flattening correlated with the laser energy applied. Histopathology revealed the remarkably smooth edges of the laser incisions."<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Cotliar AM, Schubert HD, Mandel ER, Trokel SL | title = Excimer laser radial keratotomy | journal = Ophthalmology | volume = 92 | issue = 2 | pages = 206–8 | date = February 1985 | pmid = 3982798 | doi = 10.1016/s0161-6420(85)34052-6 }}</ref>

=== Patent ===
A number of patents have been issued for several techniques related to LASIK. Rangaswamy Srinivasan and James Wynne filed a patent application on the [[ultraviolet]] [[excimer laser]], in 1986, issued in 1988.<ref name="Blum">{{cite patent | number=US4784135 | title= Far ultraviolet surgical and dental procedures| gdate =1988-11-15 | fdate=1982-12-09 | inventor = Samuel E. Blum, Rangaswamy Srinivasan, James J. Wynne}}</ref> In 1989, [[Gholam A. Peyman]] was granted a US patent for using an excimer laser to modify corneal curvature.<ref>{{cite patent | gdate =1988-06-20 | fdate=1988-01-22 | inventor = Gholam A. Peyman | title=Method for modifying corneal curvature | number=US4840175}}</ref> It was,
:"A method and apparatus for modifying the curvature of a live cornea via use of an excimer laser. The live cornea has a thin layer removed therefrom, leaving an exposed internal surface thereon. Then, either the surface or thin layer is exposed to the laser beam along a predetermined pattern to ablate desired portions. The thin layer is then replaced onto the surface. Ablating a central area of the surface or thin layer makes the cornea less curved, while ablating an annular area spaced from the center of the surface or layer makes the cornea more curved. The desired predetermined pattern is formed by use of a variable diaphragm, a rotating orifice of variable size, a movable mirror or a movable fiber optic cable through which the laser beam is directed towards the exposed internal surface or removed thin layer."<ref name="Blum" />
The patents related to so-called broad-beam LASIK and PRK technologies were granted to US companies including Visx and Summit during 1990–1995 based on the fundamental US patent issued to IBM (1988) which claimed the use of UV laser for the ablation of organic tissues.<ref name="Blum" />

=== Implementation in the United States ===
The LASIK technique was implemented in the US after its successful application elsewhere. The [[Food and Drug Administration]] (FDA) commenced a trial of the excimer laser in 1989. The first enterprise to receive FDA approval to use an excimer laser for photo-refractive keratectomy was Summit Technology.<ref name="fda.gov">{{cite web |url=https://www.fda.gov/medical-devices/lasik/fda-approved-lasers-prk-and-other-refractive-surgeries |title=FDA-Approved Lasers for PRK and Other Refractive Surgeries |website=U.S. [[Food and Drug Administration]] (FDA) |access-date=10 December 2011 |archive-date=14 September 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240914194129/https://www.fda.gov/medical-devices/lasik/fda-approved-lasers-prk-and-other-refractive-surgeries |url-status=live }}</ref>
In 1992, under the direction of the FDA, Greek ophthalmologist [[Ioannis Pallikaris]] introduced LASIK to ten VISX centers. In 1998, the "Kremer Excimer Laser", serial number KEA 940202, received FDA approval for its singular use for performing LASIK.<ref name="Reference A">{{cite web |url=https://www.fda.gov/medical-devices/lasik/list-fda-approved-lasers-lasik |title=List of FDA-Approved Lasers for LASIK |website=U.S. [[Food and Drug Administration]] (FDA) |access-date=10 December 2011 |archive-date=14 September 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240914194129/https://www.fda.gov/medical-devices/lasik/list-fda-approved-lasers-lasik |url-status=live }}</ref> Subsequently, Summit Technology was the first company to receive FDA approval to mass manufacture and distribute excimer lasers. VISX and other companies followed.<ref name="Reference A" />
[[File:MEL60-UOC.jpg|thumb|The excimer laser that was used for the first LASIK surgeries by I. Pallikaris]] [[Ioannis Pallikaris|Pallikaris]] suggested a flap of cornea could be raised by microkeratome prior to the performing of PRK with the excimer laser. The addition of a flap to PRK became known as LASIK. The use of a femtosecond laser to raise the flap of cornea was discovered after a graduate student at the [[University of Michigan]] suffered an accidental laser eye injury in 1993. Tibor Juhasz and Ron Kurtz developed this approach and went on to found [[IntraLase]] to perform bladeless LASIK surgery.<ref name="nsf.gov">{{cite web |url=https://new.nsf.gov/science-matters/invention-impact-story-lasik-eye-surgery |title=Invention to Impact: The story of LASIK eye surgery |website=U.S. [[National Science Foundation]] (NSF) |date=15 March 2024 |access-date=15 October 2024  }}</ref>

=== Recent years ===
The procedure seems to be a declining option for many in the United States, dropping more than 50 percent, from about 1.5 million surgeries in 2007 to 604,000 in 2015, according to the eye-care data source Market Scope.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Schoenberg|first1=Nara|date=23 May 2016|title=Lasik surgery falling out of favor with patients|url=http://www.chicagotribune.com/lifestyles/health/sc-lasik-loses-luster-health-0525-20160526-story.html|newspaper=Chicago Tribune|access-date=15 June 2018|archive-date=15 June 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180615163318/http://www.chicagotribune.com/lifestyles/health/sc-lasik-loses-luster-health-0525-20160526-story.html|url-status=live}}</ref> A study determined the frequency with which LASIK was searched on Google from 2007 to 2011.<ref name="stein etal">{{cite journal|vauthors=Stein JD, Childers DM, Nan B, Mian SI|date=July 2013|title=Gauging interest of the general public in laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis eye surgery|journal=Cornea|volume=32|issue=7|pages=1015–8|doi=10.1097/ICO.0b013e318283c85a|pmc=3679260|pmid=23538615}}</ref> Within this time frame, LASIK searches declined by 40% in the United States.<ref name="stein etal" /> Countries such as the U.K. and India also showed a decline, 22% and 24% respectively.<ref name="stein etal" /> Canada, however, showed an increase in LASIK searches by 8%.<ref name="stein etal" /> This decrease in interest can be attributed to several factors: the emergence of [[Refractive surgery|refractive cataract surgery]], the economic recession in 2008, and unfavorable media coverage from the FDA's 2008 press release on LASIK.<ref name=":0" />