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The Early Days:

Leonardo Da Vinci’s notes show that he was interested in finding the causes of vision problems like myopia and short sightedness, but it is only later, in 1619, that Scheiner was able to measure the anterior surface of the cornea. His discovery is still used today by ophthalmologists (eye doctors), and was the starting point of a long journey.

1850s: Van Graefe develops a pioneering surgery technique named cataract surgery, and is followed by ophthalmologists around the world who recognize the technique’s ability to improve astigmatic vision.

Trial and Error:

1867: Before the Civil War, topical anaesthesia -now known as eye drops- was developed, which allowed cataract surgery to develop during the conflict. With the development of the ophtalmometer, doctors were now able to measure astigmatism following cataract surgery.

1869, Snellen was the first to propose using incisions across the cornea in order to flatten its surface and treat astigmatism. Years went by before any doctor attempted the procedure, but Snellen’s name is still remembered today as vision charts carry his name.

1895: Faber performs a full thickness corneal incision to decrease astigmatism on a nineteen year old patient, who subsequently was able to pass his vision test and join the Royal Military Academy.

1890s, Leendert Jan Lans began to systematically study and define the principles of keratotomy. His work soon became a reference for refractive surgery, and was used by eye doctors around the world. Lans discovered that by varying the direction, shape and amount of incisions, he could manipulate a patients vision, and therefore tailor his treatment to the patient’s needs.

Doctors then started to focus on different conditions than astigmatism, but continued using the guiding principles of cornea curvature and incision.

Precision Surgery:

1936: Tsutomu Sato, observing a flattening of the cornea in patients who had sustained eye injuries, established the value of radial keratotomy. His technique became widespread in the 1940s.

1948, a physician from the WWII Royal Air Force discovered that pilots whose eyes had slivers or Perspex due to shattering cockpits had no bad reaction to the foreign material, which led him suppose that a small lens made out of the same material could be fitted onto the eye.

1949: Barrquer describes the principles of lamellar surgery, which changed the cornea’s shape by removing the anterior cornea (called today the flap).

From then on, everything goes very fast.

1960s: Radial Keratotomy is developed by Russian Svyatoslav Fyodorov.

1975-79: Excimer Laser technology is developed, but not exclusively for Eye Surgery.

1987: Theo Seiler performs the first Excimer laser surgery on a human eye, followed in 1991 by Stephen Brint and the first Lasik Procedure.

1995 – 2000: the FDA approves several kinds of laser surgery, including Excimer for refractive surgery (nearsightedness)

2000 onwards: Wavefront, Intralase and Lasik are approved by the FDA for vision correction, and their success rate is measure between 90 and 100 percent.

Matt Albie writes for Focus, a leading Harley Street clinic offering Laser Eye Surgery from expert surgeons with hundreds of satisfied patients

If you require high quality laser eye surgery, Dr Allamby’s Focus Clinics could solve your problem in minutes

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Matt_Albie

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