Keratomileusis, brainchild of Jose I. Barraquer Moner, was conceived and 
developed as the first stromal sculpting method to correct refractive error in 
1948. The word "keratomileusis" literally means "sculpting" of the "cornea." 
Barraquer's first procedures involved freezing a disc of anterior corneal tissue 
before removing stromal tissue with a lathe. Over the years, the procedure 
continued to develop, first through the Barraquer-Krumeich-Swinger non-freeze 
technique where tissue was removed from the underside of the disc by a second 
pass of the microkeratome. In-situ keratomileusis was later developed by passing 
the microkeratome a second time directly on the stromal bed. The procedure 
became known as automated lamellar keratoplasty with the invention of an 
automated microkeratome and was further refined by replacing the disc without 
sutures and later by stopping the microkeratome before the end of the pass to 
create a hinged flap, as first demonstrated in 1989. The history of the excimer 
laser dates back to 1900 and the quantum theory, eventually leading to the 
discovery that 193-nm ultraviolet excimer laser pulses could photoablate tissue 
without thermal damage. Ultrastructural and wound healing studies confirmed that 
large area ablation could be performed in the central cornea. This was described 
as photorefractive keratectomy in 1986 and the first sighted eyes were treated 
in 1988. An excimer laser was first used to sculpt from the stromal bed under a 
hinged flap created manually using a trephine and scalpel in 1988. The 
incorporation of a microkeratome in 1990 finally led to laser in situ 
keratomileusis-LASIK-as we know it today.