Barbara G. Goode, Editor in Chief of BioOptics World, has spent more than 20 years writing about technology. She also writes and edits for Laser Focus World; and previously served as chief editor for Small Times and Sensors, where she covered various technologies for medical and other uses. The BioOptics Worldview blog aims to provide useful analysis of technical and market advances in lasers, optics, and imaging for the life sciences.

It’s been 25 years since the first clinical application of the excimer laser to correct astigmatism, and the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) is marking the milestone today with a special “25th Anniversary of the Excimer Laser” symposium during its 2008 annual meeting in Atlanta (November 7-12).

It’s been 25 years since the first clinical application of the excimer laser to correct astigmatism, and the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) is marking the milestone today with a special “25th Anniversary of the Excimer Laser” symposium during its 2008 annual meeting in Atlanta (November 7-12).

The symposium, actually a joint meeting of the AAO’s International Society of Refractive Surgery (ISRS/AAO) and the European Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons (ESCRS), will feature Steven Trokel MD, who patented the excimer laser for vision correction in 1983, and other instrumental figures describing progression of the hardware, algorithms, and procedures—from the beginning through the future.

The symposium will conclude with the Barraquer Lecture, “Corneal surgery is refractive surgery,” given by the 2007 winner of the annual Barraquer Award Medal, Roger F Steinert MD -- and then presentation of the 2008 medal. The award, named for Jose Ignacio Barraquer (1916-1998), the inventor of refractive keratoplasty in 1949.

The 2008 winner is Jorge L. Alió, MD, PhD, Profesor and Chairman of Ophthalmology at Miguel Hernández University (Alicante, Spain).

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American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) annual meeting 2008