Bath, Patricia Era (1942-2019), an American ophthalmologist, in 1988 became the first African American woman to be granted a patent for the invention of a medical device. An ophthalmologist is a doctor who specializes in treating diseases of the eye. Bath was known for her work in the treatment and prevention of blindness.
Bath concentrated her research on the treatment of cataracts. This condition involves the clouding of the lens of the eye (see Cataract ). Cataracts can result in loss of vision and blindness. Bath developed a medical instrument that utilized a laser to remove cloudy spots from the lens. A laser is a device that produces a powerful beam of light. Bath’s instrument, called a cataract laserphaco probe, painlessly vaporizes such spots. Previously, doctors had used a surgical drill to grind away spots on the lens. Bath’s instrument provided a safer, faster, and more accurate alternative.
Bath was born on Nov. 4, 1942, in the Harlem district of New York City. She graduated from Hunter College in 1964. She earned her medical degree from Howard University in Washington, D.C., in 1968. In 1974, she moved to Los Angeles to work at the Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science. In 1975, Bath became the first female African American surgeon at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) Medical Center. She later became the first female faculty member at the UCLA Jules Stein Eye Institute.
Patricia Bath retired from UCLA in 1993. She continued to promote eye health through the American Institute for the Prevention of Blindness, in Los Angeles. Bath cofounded the institute in 1976. She also served as its first president. Bath died in San Francisco on May 30, 2019.
