In Japan, Sato, did similar work with corneal incisions in the 1930's. But the real application of refractive surgery was used by a Russian, Dr. Fyodorov. The doctor using this procedure treated a boy whose glasses broke and had caused corneal lacerations . He noticed the boy's eyesight was improved and he proceeded to do research. Dr. Leo Bores brought the technology to the United States after visiting Fyodorov in the Soviet Union.
Lasers are possible because light interacts with electrons in a certain way.
In 1960 Theodore Maiman invented the first laser known as a ruby laser. The type of laser that is used in laser eye surgery is the Excimer laser. Dr. Steven Trokel first used this laser on the cornea. This laser emits a non-thermal, cold beam that interacts with the corneal tissue. Now As of 1994 over 1,000,000 people have had this surgery.