กรุงเทพฯ--26 ก.พ.--IBM Thailand
Tenth time IBM has received nation's most prestigious tech award; Experiment with Thanksgiving turkey leftovers led to vision correction procedure that has benefited more than 25 million people worldwide
President Obama honored a team of three IBM scientists -- James J. Wynne, Rangaswamy Srinivasan and Samuel Blum -- with the National Medal of Technology and Innovation, the country's most prestigious award given to leading innovators for technological achievement. They received this award for their discovery of a new form of laser surgery, using an excimer laser that made modern LASIK and PRK refractive eye surgery possible. President Obama personally bestowed the award to Drs. Wynne and Srinivasan at a special White House ceremony. IBM has earned the National Medal of Technology and Innovation on nine other occasions.
Ms Parnsiree Amatayakul, Managing Director, IBM Thailand, said “It is a huge honor for IBM to receive the National Medal of Technology and Innovation for this research. This achievement is a reflection of IBM’s culture of innovation, to think far into the future, and a result of enabling different disciplines to come together to tackle real-world challenges with a broad domain of expertise.”
IBM’s transformational work in laser technology, by this team of scientists has shaped the course of surgical care. Well suited for delicate surgeries, the excimer laser replaced mechanical instruments such as the “cold steel” scalpel, which was not very precise, could leave the cornea permanently weakened and required a long recovery time.
The team of researchers, who each had different backgrounds that included laser physics, polymer photochemistry and materials science, embarked on their breakthrough adventure the day after Thanksgiving in 1981. What began as an experiment involving an excimer laser and some turkey leftovers gave birth to the idea that this laser could be used in health and medicine, after they successfully irradiated a piece of turkey cartilage without any collateral damage to the surrounding tissue.
Using very short pulses of far ultraviolet light, the excimer laser cut a clean incision into the cartilage without any burning or charring. This ability to precisely cut into materials via ablation, rather than burning, was appealing to doctors and patients, as it left surrounding and underlying areas undamaged. As a result of publishing their research and giving a talk at a major laser conference in 1983, the IBM team caught the attention of the ophthalmology community, which helped advance this technology with further experimentation and trials.
Today, LASIK and PRK eye surgery are the most popular vision correction surgeries performed and have improved the vision of more than 25 million people worldwide. This type of modern surgery technology is one reason why the world has looked to the United States for leadership and best practices. James Wynne still works at IBM's TJ Watson Research Center, while Srinivasan and Blum have since retired, and Blum recently passed away on January 9th, 2013.
In addition to the National Medal of Technology & Innovation, the team was also awarded the 2013 Russ Prize of the National Academy of Engineering, a prize that recognizes outstanding bioengineering achievements in widespread use that improves the human condition.
Media contact:
Communications, IBM Thailand Co., Ltd.
Paranee Reymondon
Tel: 02 273 4164
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