Lasers have worked in ophthalmology almost since the laser was invented in 1960. Granted, the techniques have changed and new procedures have evolved, but ophthalmological lasers remain among the most widely used of all surgical lasers. Global Industry Analysts Inc. of San Francisco, estimates that revenues from ophthalmological applications will be $273.8 million by the year 2000 in the US alone. Ironically, the market has become so big that lasers are being sold illegally by companies that havenit received clearance from the US Food and Drug Administration for ophthalmic procedures. The popular press has created a feeling that everything has to be done with lasers,i said Dr. Robert Noecker, assistant professor of ophthalmology at the University of Arizona in Tucson. This, in turn, creates a demand from patients.