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Podcast: Witness History
Episode: The pioneering eye surgery that led to Lasik
Description: In 1963, Dr Jose Ignacio Barraquer Moner performed the first surgery on a human eye aimed at correcting short-sightedness.The ophthalmologist had been developing his technique for years, believing that there was a better solution for blurry vision than wearing glasses.But he had to move from Spain to Colombia to begin his experimental surgery which involved dry ice, a watchmaker’s lathe and rabbits. The idea was to change the shape of the cornea – the front layer of the eye - to focus vision.First, he sliced off the patient’s cornea then dunked...