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Peter Choyce, 82, dies
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LONDON — D. Peter Choyce, FRCS, FRCOphth, developer and champion of artificial lens implantation, died on August 8.
Born March 1, 1919, Mr. Choyce became an integral part of perhaps the greatest advance in eye surgery during the 20th century – artificial lens implantation as a part of cataract surgery. Working side by side for 12 years at Moorfields Eye Hospital in London with Sir Harold Ridley, developer of the first IOL, Mr. Choyce quickly recognized the benefit of lens implantation after cataract surgery. But he would face years of opposition from the ophthalmic establishment before his beliefs were accepted.
In 1966, Mr. Choyce invited 15 ophthalmologists from around the world to form the Intra-Ocular Implant Club. They met for the first time at the Royal Society of Medicine in London. Comparing notes and procedures, complications and results, this initial group of surgeons was determined to continue to experiment with IOLs to benefit humanity.
Mr. Choyce developed several models of IOL, but did not patent the majority of them until the Choyce Mark IX in 1977, which subsequently became the first Food and Drug Administration-approved IOL in 1981.
By 1985, more than 1 million artificial lenses were being implanted annually worldwide, and a significant portion of those were based on Mr. Choyce's designs.
"I think that I was extremely lucky to be in the right place at the right time with the right qualifications to appreciate the importance of what Ridley was doing in 1949 and 1950," Mr. Choyce told Ocular Surgery News in 1999.
Mr. Choyce is survived by his wife and their three sons.