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Claes Dohlman, an ophthalmologist whose research into diseased and damaged eyes led to the development of an artificial cornea that restored vision to thousands of patients considered unsuitable for transplant surgery, died July 14 at his home in Weston, Mass. He was 101.

His grandson and collaborator, Thomas Dohlman, confirmed the death but noted no specific cause.

When Dr. Dohlman moved through his postgraduate medical research in the 1950s, cornea transplant surgery was making strides at hospitals in Europe and the United States. He wondered about how to help others who needed a new cornea — the convex outer layer of the eye that focuses light — but had other complications that made transplants impossible, such as deep scar tissue on the eye.

“We tried to find an artificial option, like putting a window on a house so you can see out,” Dr. Dohlman recalled in a 2011 interview with the Boston Herald, “but the challenge was to create something that is safe and long-lasting.”

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The quest for an artificial cornea went back at least to the 19th century, with limited experiments in France and elsewhere. The attempts ended in failure and with sometimes catastrophic infections and bleeding.

Dr. Dohlman’s ideas began to take shape in the 1960s, several years after he moved from Sweden to Boston to begin work with a renowned eye surgeon, Charles Schepens, at the Retina Foundation Institute of Boston (now known as the Schepens Eye Research Institute of Mass Eye and Ear). The basic premise was straightforward: finding a plastic or similar substance that could direct light on the retina in the same way as a cornea.

What took decades to refine was how to design an artificial cornea, known as a keratoprosthesis, that did its job without interfering with the rest of the ocular balance of fluids and nerves.

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The design of his artificial cornea — approved in 1992 by the Food and Drug Administration — was an interplay of engineering and medical technology. The device, about the size of a button, is a metallic ring (most often titanium) with holes to allow the flow of fluids. Inside the ring is a polymer-based dome that acts as the light portal in the same way as a cornea, which covers the iris and the pupil.

Over the decades, modifications were made, such as adding more holes and changing the style of fasteners holding the system together. In attempts to lessen possible postoperative problems, including infection and hemorrhaging, Dr. Dohlman made treatment adjustments, including adding special antibiotics and protective soft contact lenses.

Yet the overall design of the breakthrough, known as the Boston Keratoprosthesis, or Boston KPro, remained largely the same, leading many medical groups to describe Dr. Dohlman as the father of cornea research and innovation. Since the early 1990s, more than 19,000 patients have had full or partial eyesight restored with artificial corneas, according to the Mass General Brigham medical system.

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“For the patient, it can be hard to grasp immediately,” Dr. Dohlman said. “They can become almost hysterically happy with tears and hugs, or they can be confused, not really grasping what is happening to them.”

In 2011, a Zambian preschool teacher, Mercy Muzmara, had her sight restored at Mass Eye and Ear with an artificial cornea implant she received three years after a severe reaction to an antibiotic fused her eyelids to her eyeballs and destroyed her cornea. “I used to think miracles were stories in the Bible, but they are real,” she told reporters. “One happened to me.”

In Dublin, Liam McNulty was blinded in 1999 after a workplace explosion knocked off his protective goggles and acid and caustic fumes flooded into his eyes. The scar tissue left behind by the accident eliminated the possibility for a cornea transplant. In 2008, he received an artificial cornea in his right eye.

“I was looking at how things had changed over a period of nine years,” he wrote in an essay in the Irish Times. “I was looking at the cars, the ambulances, the trucks and, most importantly, my family and friends.” That included his first look at his grandchild.

Roots in Sweden

Claes Henrik Dohlman was born in Uppsala, Sweden, on Sept. 11, 1922. His mother was a homemaker, and his father was head of the ear, nose and throat department at the university hospital in Lund.

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As a medical student, Claes followed his father’s path to the University of Lund but opted for ophthalmology. “A career outside medicine was unthinkable,” he said.

He received his medical degree in 1950 and then was a resident at the university’s Eye Clinic. He received research fellowships, including at Johns Hopkins University and the Karolinska Institute in Sweden. During the 1950s, he received doctorates in medical research from the University of Lund and in biochemistry from Karolinska.

In 1958, Dr. Dohlman became a research associate at the Retina Foundation at Mass Eye and Ear, where he created the world’s first specialized cornea clinic. Three years later, he joined the Harvard Medical School faculty.

Dr. Dohlman was appointed chief of ophthalmology at Mass Eye and Ear and head of Harvard’s ophthalmology department in 1974, holding both positions until 1989.

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He continued research into his 90s, including contributions in a new style of artificial cornea, the Lucia KPro, a variation on Dr. Dohlman’s device meant to give a more natural look in the eye. Dr. Dohlman’s grandson, Thomas Dohlman, is among the doctors who now lead KPro projects. (Techniques developed by others include “tooth-eye surgery,” in which a patient’s tooth and facial bone is used as support for an artificial cornea.)

Dr. Dohlman received the 2022 António Champalimaud Vision Award, considered the highest honor in eye-related medicine, for his lifetime achievements and role as a mentor.

“By one estimate, over 700 of the world’s leading corneal experts were trained by Dr. Dohlman,” said a statement by the Champalimaud Foundation when the award was announced, “and are responsible for the vast majority of current concepts about, and treatments used, in corneal science and practice.”

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Dr. Dohlman’s wife of 70 years, the former Sigrid Carin Björklund, died in 2018. Survivors include six children; 12 grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren.

He was once asked to describe his breakthrough moment in the search for an artificial cornea. He replied that there was none. The fundamental science behind crafting a cornea had long been known. The difference was that others moved on to other projects, he said.

“A number of people have tried, very bright people, surgeons, but they didn’t have the patience,” he said. “They didn’t carry on decade after decade after decade. They gave up too early.”

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