Cataract pioneer Charles Kelman, MD, dies at 74

Charles D. Kelman, MD, considered a pioneer in cataract surgery, passed away yesterday at age 74.

Charles Kelman, MD, who set the stage for the move to outpatient cataract surgery by introducing phacoemulsification in 1967, died Tuesday of lung cancer, according to an Associated Press report.

Among his many achievements: being inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame earlier this year, receiving the National Medal of Technology from President George H.W. Bush in 1992 and receiving the American Academy of Achievement Award in 1970.

Charles Kelman was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., on May 23, 1930. He completed his medical studies at the University of Geneva, Switzerland. An internship followed at Kings County Hospital in Brooklyn and then residency in ophthalmology at Wills Eye Hospital in Philadelphia. He had been in private practice since 1960.

In 1962, Dr. Kelman devised the cryoprobe, a freezing instrument for intracapsular cataract extraction. He introduced phacoemulsification in 1967 and in 1975 began designing lens implants for use in the procedure. By Dr. Kelman’s estimate, aggregate sales of Kelman-designed lenses by companies such as Advanced Medical Optics, IOLab, Alcon, Domilens and Storz Ophthalmics total more than $340 million.

Named as one of Ocular Surgery News’ visionaries, he recalled not being so much revered as reviled in his early career.

“Ophthalmology has changed a lot in the past 20 years or so,” he told OSN. “The profession has changed a lot, too. At the time I really started my ophthalmology career, everyone was against change. Now change is regular – there is so much new science coming up. But when I started phaco, I constantly had to fight for it. I was labeled a charlatan.”

He said his background in show business didn’t help fight the outcast image. An accomplished saxophonist, Dr. Kelman appeared in concert as a musician with Lionel Hampton and Dizzy Gillespie and performed in concert at Carnegie Hall, in Las Vegas and Atlantic City and with James Darren, Regis Philbin and others.

“So while I was trying to convince ophthalmology that phaco was good, I was also doing comedy in Las Vegas and Atlantic City, opening for big names like Glen Campbell and The Spinners. This gave ophthalmologists just another reason not to trust me,” he told OSN.

Introducing the lecture that bears his name in 2003 during the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery meeting, Dr. Kelman said innovation has little to do with intelligence and everything to do with creativity and the ability to listen to the inner muse.

“The creative act is as close as we can get to the divine,” he said at the time.

Reflecting upon his career, he told OSN in 2002, “Ophthalmology is a field I really love. I may have given some to ophthalmology, but it’s given a lot back to me.”