Surgical Correction of Presbyopia : The Fifth Wave

Until recently, surgical correction of presbyopia was considered the “last frontier” in ophthalmology, but today there are a wide variety of treatments available.

Ming Wang, MD, PhD, is the CEO of Aier-USA, Director of Wang Vision Cataract & LASIK Center―an Aier-USA Eye Clinic in Nashville, and Clinical Professor at Meharry Medical College.

Growing up in China during the tumultuous Cultural Revolution, Dr. Wang played the Chinese violin er-hu and learned to dance in order to escape deportation and a life sentence of hard labor and poverty, a devastating fate that fell upon millions of youth. He came to America in 1982 with $50, a Chinese-English dictionary, and a big American dream in his heart. Dr. Wang graduated from Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MD, magna cum laude) in Boston, Massachusetts; holds a doctorate degree in laser spectroscopy; and completed his residency at Wills Eye Hospital in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and his corneal and refractive surgery fellowship at Bascom Palmer Eye Institute in Miami, Florida.

A former panel consultant to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Ophthalmic Device Panel and a founding director of Vanderbilt Laser Sight Center, Dr. Wang published a paper in the world-renowned journal Nature. This was followed by his editing of Corneal Dystrophy and Degeneration: A Molecular Genetic Approach and the following 7 ophthalmic textbooks published by SLACK Incorporated: Corneal Topography in the Wavefront Era: A Guide for Clinical Application, Irregular Astigmatism: Diagnosis and Treatment, Keratoconus and Keratoectasia: Prevention, Diagnosis, and Treatment, Corneal Topography: A Guide for Clinical Application in the Wavefront Era, Second Edition, Atlas and Clinical Reference Guide for Corneal Topography, Refractive Lens Exchange: A Surgical Treatment for Presbyopia, and Surgical Treatment for Presbyopia: The Fifth Wave. Additionally, he has published over 120 papers and numerous book chapters.

Dr. Wang holds several US patents for his inventions of new biotechnologies to restore sight, including an amniotic membrane contact lens, an adaptive infrared retinoscopic device for detecting ocular aberrations, and a digital eye bank for virtual clinical trials. His invention of amniotic membrane contact lens has been used by more than 10,000 surgeons in the United States and worldwide in treating ocular surface diseases to restore sight. Dr. Wang is an investigator in the US FDA clinical trial of a scleral-spacing procedure to treat age-related loss of near vision (presbyopia) and ultraviolet cross-linking for the treatment of keratoconus. He introduced the femtosecond laser to China and performed China’s first bladeless all-laser LASIK procedure using this laser in 2005. He also performed the world’s first femtosecond laser–assisted artificial cornea implantation (Alphacor), and the first Intacs procedure (Addition Technology, Inc) in the United States using a new version of Intacs for advanced keratoconus.

Dr. Wang was a recipient of the Honor Award from the American Academy of Ophthalmology, the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Association of Chinese American Physicians, Kiwanis Nashvillian of the Year Award, and an honorary doctorate degree from Trevecca Nazarene University (Nashville, Tennessee).

Dr. Wang is the CEO of Aier-USA, the US expansion of Aier Eye Hospital, the world’s largest eye group with more than 300 locations in 3 of the 5 continents providing eye care for more than 2 billion people worldwide; the founding president of the Tennessee Chinese Chamber of Commerce; and co-founder of Tennessee Immigrant and Minority Group.

Dr. Wang introduced many state-of-the-art technologies to the state including SMILE, bladeless all-laser LASIK, KAMRA (CorneaGen), Raindrop (ReVision Optics), laser refractive lens exchange for the treatment of presbyopia and laser cataract surgery, Intacs and cross-linking for keratoconus, and amniotic membrane contact lens for ocular surface disease. He performed more than 55,000 procedures (including on more than 4000 doctors) and runs a busy international referral clinic for post-LASIK and post–cataract surgery complications. He founded another 501c(3) nonprofit charity, the Wang Foundation for Sight Restoration, which has also helped patients from more than 40 states in the United States and 55 countries worldwide, with all sight restoration surgeries performed free of charge.

Dr. Wang is a champion amateur ballroom dancer and a former finalist in the World Ballroom Dance Championships in the Open Pro-Am International 10 dance. He plays the er-hu and accompanied country music legend Dolly Parton on her CD Those Were the Days. Dr. Wang organized an annual classical ballroom dance sight charity event, the EyeBall, and has drawn attendees from all over the United States and around the world.