radial keratotomy

American  

noun

Ophthalmology.

1. a surgical technique for correcting nearsightedness by making a series of spokelike incisions in the cornea to change its shape and focusing properties.

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radial keratotomy British  

/ ˌkɛrəˈtɒtəmɪ /

noun

1. an operation designed to improve short-sightedness in which a number of cuts are made around the cornea to change the shape of it

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radial keratotomy Scientific  

/ kĕr′ə-tŏt′ə-mē /

1. A surgical procedure consisting of a radial pattern of corneal incisions, performed to reduce or correct myopia.

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Etymology

Origin of radial keratotomy

First recorded in 1975–80; kerato- + -tomy

Example Sentences

By the 1970s Soviet doctors routinely used scalpels to reshape the corneas of nearsighted patients in an operation called radial keratotomy.

From Time Magazine Archive

It was a big improvement over radial keratotomy, although the healing of the epithelium remained painful.

From Time Magazine Archive

But the most popular procedure is radial keratotomy, in which a series of fine spokelike incisions are made on the cornea to correct myopia.

From Time Magazine Archive

Across America, ophthalmologists rediscovered an obscure and risky procedure called radial keratotomy, and there was a boom in surgery to correct small impairments of vision.

From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis

Years earlier, Beck had undergone a radial keratotomy* to correct his vision.

From "Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer