This operation was first performed in Canada at St. Mary's Hospital in 1979 by Dr. Kwitko after studying with Dr Fyodorov. Whatever can be done with a scalpel can be done with a laser. In 1990, the first Excimer laser was brought into Canada. All new drugs, surgical techniques and devices have to undergo a five-year clinical study, and I was invited to be chairman of the advisary committee on the use of this laser for Health and Welfare Canada. A similar study was organized in the U.S. by the FDA under Dr. Walter Stark of Johns Hopkins University.
Ordinary light is made up of a broad range of wavelengths, from ultraviolet to infrared.
This breakup of light is commonly seen as the formation of a rainbow in the sky often after a rainfall. A laser produces a very intense beam of light of one wave length of the light spectrum that can be focused on to a small spot. Children create a laser beam when they focus the sun's rays through a magnifying glass and burn a hole in a piece of paper. The Excimer laser produces a narrow beam of ultraviolet light, which, when focused through a lens, can evaporate corneal tissue a few cells at a time. This process is called photoablation and the effect is to change the shape of the cornea and create a clear picture on the retina so the person can see well without glasses.