Dr. José Ignacio Barraquer performed in Colombia, in 1963, the first operation of hypermetropia using the keratomileusis technique; this consisted in removing a corneal tissue layer, to increase its radius of curvature using a special lathe and introduce it back into place. This technique has been refined over the years, thanks to the addition of successive technological innovations, but recovery was slow and the procedure had inaccurate results.
In 1975 IBM developed the Excimer Laser, although it was initially used to record the microchip circuits without melting the silicon, this advance actively contributed in the progress of laser far-sightedness surgery.
In 1983 Trokel and Srivinivasan suggested the first corneal application of the excimer laser and in 1988 McDonald and Kaufman performed the first surgery using the Excimer Laser PRK (photorefractive keratectomy) technique. The results of the hyperopia laser surgery with this technology, using the PRK technique, were much worse than in cases of myopia.
In 1990 the development of lasik surgery by Dr. Pallikaris was the biggest advancement in laser operation for far-sightedness.
Lasik is an in situ keratomileusis assisted with excimer laser (the combination of keratomileusis and PRK), which provided accurate results and a quick and painless surgery.
In 2002 technological improvements made the lasik surgery possible since it was personalised, wavefront-guided (customized Lasik or Wavefront Lasik), which improved the results of laser operation for hyperopia by correcting higher order aberrations and avoiding halos and night glares.
Since 2007 we offer multifocal lasik surgery which in the same procedure corrects far-sightedness and presbyopia (or far-sightedness). The Excimer Laser carves a multifocal aspheric profile in the cornea, which simultaneously treats hyperopia and presbyopia: to achieve a natural high-quality vision, free of glasses and contact lenses for all distances.
Hyperopia Surgery