The first step towards Lasik was developed by Dr. Jose Barraquer. In 1970 Barraquer developed microkeratome. The procedure was used to change the shape of the cornea and to cut thin corneal flaps. The procedure was later named keratomileusis.
In 1990 the procedure was refined even more. Dr. Lucio Buratto, Italy, and Dr. Iolannis Pallikaris, Greece, changed the procedure to what it is known as today. They combined keratomileusis with photorefractive keractomy, also known as PRK. PRK was then the latest form of laser eye surgery and it had the ability to permanently change the shape of the anterior central cornea by burning off necessary eye tissue from around the corneal stroma. The procedure is not typically preferred today, as it was quite a bit more painful than Lasik has become.
However, this was the second step in the process of getting to Lasik. As PRK began to show a number of complications and precision was required throughout the process, Dr. Thomas Neuhann and Dr. Tobias Neuhann of Germany developed the first automated Lasik surgery in Munich. That same year, Dr. Stephen Slade and Dr. Stephen Brint performed the PRK for the first time in the United States in 1991.