Posters

Gerhard Meyer-Schwickerath and his story of the 'trapped sun'

Poster Details

First Author: S.Scholtz GERMANY

Co Author(s):    F. Kretz   G. Auffarth                 

Abstract Details

Purpose:

Gerhard Meyer Schwickerath´s (*1920 – †1992) vision of the „trapped sun” changed ophthalmic history fundamentally: he was the first who used sunlight for eye surgery; his scientific results were the basis for modern laser surgery. This poster is done to honour life and work of Gerd Meyer-Schwickerath.

Setting:

International Vision Correction Research Centre (IVCRC), Dept. of Ophthalmology, University of Heidelberg, Germany

Methods:

Selective literature research of books and journal articles via PubMed, Google Scholar and Google with respect to life and work of Gerhard Meyer-Schwickerath.

Results:

With his ideas on the most revolutionary technique of using light as a therapeutic tool in diseases of the retina, Gerd Meyer-Schwickerath got world famous: In 1949 he invented a treatment which made non-invasive surgery of the retina possible for the first time: he used sun light to coagulate injuries of the retina by a non-invasive procedure. Ongoing research led to today’s utmost important laser surgery techniques throughout medicine.

Conclusions:

Laser surgery is an essential tool in Ophthalmology today, about 50% of all lasers used in medicine are present in ophthalmology in various applications. The use of light as an important, non-invasive therapeutic tool was Gerhard Meyer-Schwickerath´s unique gift to the world, it changed life of surgeons and patients fundamentally.

Financial Disclosure:

NONE