Verified

Patricia E. Bath

Ophthalmologist who invented laser cataract surgery apparatus

At a glance

Inventor: Patricia E. Bath
Life: 1942–2019
Birthplace: Harlem, New York
Country: United States
Region: United States
Era: 1950–2000
Fields: Medicine & Health
Evidence: Verified
Records: 1 in this archive

What they did

Bath invented the Laserphaco Probe, which uses laser energy to ablate and irrigate away a cataractous lens, and founded the discipline of community ophthalmology.

Historical context

Cataract removal relied on mechanical grinding. Bath had also documented that blindness rates among Black patients in Harlem were roughly double those at a nearby clinic — access, not biology.

The legacy

First Black woman physician to receive a US patent for a medical device; her probe restored sight to patients blind for decades.

The evidence

[1]US Patent 4,744,360 — Apparatus for ablating and removing cataract lenses
Primary record
United States Patent Office · Patent record
[2]Patricia Bath biographical records
Primary record
US National Library of Medicine, Changing the Face of Medicine · Government archive

Documentation strength

Strong

2
Sources: 2
Primary: 2
Publishers

Calculated from the sources actually attached to this record — the closer a source sits to the original document, the more it counts. It is never asserted by hand.