This article tells the story of how medical research into the structure of the eye and research in physics on light and lasers met to benefit diabetes patients and others with eye problems (see I Can See Clearly Now…).

Researchers have studied the structure of the human eye since the 1600s and came to understand it fairly well by the 1900s. Sudden retinal detachments remained a puzzle until 1918 when an ophthalmologist came to understand how the vitreous fluid in the eye played a vital role in this process (see The Retina – The Seat of Vision). Meanwhile, physicists such as Albert Einstein were studying the nature of light and discovered that atoms can absorb energy and emit it later at specific frequencies. They also discovered that under the right conditions, they can trigger a chain reaction of this type of emission, which is the basic principle behind lasers (see Meanwhile, in the World of Physics…). As ophthalmologists continued research to perfect techniques to seal retinal tears, they realized that bright beams of light at some wavelengths could be used for this procedure. The first such device used a high-pressure xenon arc lamp (see The Power of Light).

At the same time, scientists were studying microwave radar and invented the device known as a maser. This was the precursor for the laser, and by 1960 they had built a laser device using a synthetic ruby (see Generating Light with Molecules). The ruby laser was used very successfully to repair some retinal problems, but not all (see Serendipity at Work). Scientists realized that they needed light of higher frequency for treating diabetic retinal problems. Collaborations between medical doctors and physicists led to the development of the Argon laser used for this purpose (see The Advent of Argon). Recently, lasers have been used in the “lasik” type operations which allow doctors to reshape a person’s cornea to correct vision problems. Ophthalmologists continue to explore exciting new possibilities for using lasers in medicine (see Tailoring Lasers to the Task).

This article is available in Spanish and Japanese.