Laserphaco and Patent Related Materials
setName: label: See more items in
content: Patricia Bath Papers
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1971-2003
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives Center, National Museum of American History
identifier: label: Identifier
content: NMAH.AC.1585, Series 3
objectType: label: Type
content: Archival materials
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: This series contains documentation related to Dr. Bath's invention of the Laserphaco Probe device. Included are drawings, correspondence (with various attorneys and the United States Patent and Trademark Office), research notes and testing documentation. Dr. Bath compiled a notebook (See box 21, folder 1) outlining the steps of inventing the Laserphaco device. Also in this series are publications in scientific journals and other medical publications by Dr. Bath and peers; newspaper clippings, presentation materials--slides and photographs--and information about manufacturing the laser and legal records related to lawsuits brought by Dr. Bath in order to retain her intellectual property. Researchers should also consult Series 1: Biographical Materials and Series 4: Audiovisual Materials for additional information about the Laserphaco.

Working with cataract patients in the 1980s, Dr. Bath began to research ways to make cataract surgery more accurate and less invasive. She envisioned using a laser to remove the clouded lens, making a much smaller incision than was then typical. In 1988, the US Patent and Trademark Office issued US Patent 4,744,360 to Dr. Bath for an "apparatus for ablation and removing cataract lenses." She would name the device the Laserphaco Probe. Dr. Bath was awarded a total of five patents: 

Apparatus for ablating and removing cataract lenses (US 4,744,360)

Method and apparatus for ablating and removing cataract lenses (US 5,843,071)

Laser apparatus for surgery of cataractous lenses (US 5,919,186)

Pulsed ultrasound method for fragmenting/emulsifying and removing cataractous lenses (US 6,083,192)

Combination ultrasound and laser method and apparatus for removing cataract lenses (US 6,544,254).

Dr. Bath held eight patents--five in the United States and three internationally--for inventing the method and removal of cataract lenses using laser ablation and her Laserphaco probe.