Ophthalmic Consultants of Long Island (N.Y.) opthamologist Marguerite McDonald, MD, performed the world's first laser vision correction procedure March 25, 1988.
Here's what you should know.
1. In 1983, Stephen Trokel, MD, used an industrial excimer laser to make patterns in cadaver animal eyes and published his findings in the American Journal of Ophthalmology. The idea fascinated Dr. McDonald, so much so that in 1984, with the assistance of Charles Munnerlyn, PhD, Steve Klyce, PhD and Dr. Trokel, she began to develop laser vision correction.
2. The team developed the procedure and tested it on plastic blocks before moving on to cadaver eyes from animals and humans. They then performed the procedure on living rabbit and monkey eyes, refining the technique through years of work.
3. In 1988, a 62-year-old woman volunteered to let the team perform its laser eye treatment on her. She was suffering from cancer of the orbit and required exenteration. It appeared likely she would lose her eye.
4. The FDA approved the experimental procedure and Dr. McDonald successfully performed it March 25, 1988, at the Delta Primate Center in Covington, La. The research team watched how the woman's eye healed, until she had to have her eye exenterated 11 days later due to the cancer.
5. The woman died from her cancer, but the information gathered from the laser corrective procedure allowed the FDA to accelerate its approval process, allowing immediate human trials.
6. Dr. McDonald said, "Looking back on the procedure we perform[ed] on [the woman] so many years ago, I am so proud and excited to see how far laser vision correction has come."