Also American

Person · 1942–2019

Patricia Bath

The ophthalmologist and inventor whose laser device transformed cataract surgery.

A frontier of [[black-science]].

Patricia Bath was the first Black woman doctor to receive a medical patent, for her Laserphaco Probe, and a founder of the discipline of community ophthalmology dedicated to preventing blindness among the underserved.

Science & Invention

On the timeline

  1. May 17, 1988
    Patricia Bath patents the Laserphaco Probe for cataract treatment

    Ophthalmologist Patricia Bath received a patent for the Laserphaco Probe, a laser device that revolutionized cataract surgery by making it faster and less painful. She became the first Black female doctor to receive a medical patent in the United States and co-founded the American Institute for the Prevention of Blindness.

Resources

The web

Connections to other moments, systems, and investigations, the links rarely drawn together.

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    Black Inventors, Engineers & Architects

    Ophthalmologist who invented the Laserphaco Probe for cataract surgery, the first African-American woman to receive a patent for a medical invention.