14 DAY TRIAL // Researchers announce the development of a new type of artificial cornea, which may help countless patients recover full or partial eyesight.
The innovation could also help repair and regenerate eye tissue that has been damaged by various means, say experts from Canada and Sweden, who conducted the investigation.
Thus far, the new corneas were only inserted in 10 patients, who were all volunteers in a clinical trial.
Details of the investigation appear in the August 25 issue of the journal Science Translational Medicine.
“This study is important because it is the first to show that an artificially fabricated cornea can integrate with the human eye and stimulate regeneration,” explains Dr May Griffith.
She is the senior author of the journal entry, and holds joint appointments at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute (OHRI), the University of Ottawa, and the Linkoping University.
“With further research, this approach could help restore sight to millions of people who are waiting for a donated human cornea for transplantation,” the researcher adds.
When entering the eye, light first passes through the cornea, which is a layer of collagen and various cells that is fully transparent. If it starts to turn opaque, then the amount of light entering the eye gradually diminishes.
This problem affects millions of people around the world, and it can be brought on by a variety of environmental or genetic factors.
“We are very encouraged by these results and by the great potential of biosynthetic corneas,” says Dr. Per Fagerholm. The expert is an eye surgeon in Sweden, ad the Linkoping University.
“Further biomaterial enhancements and modifications to the surgical technique are ongoing, and new studies are being planned that will extend the use of the biosynthetic cornea to a wider range of sight-threatening conditions requiring transplantation,” Dr. Fagerholm adds.
This research was supported by grants from the Canadian Stem Cell Network, the Swedish Research Council and County of Östergötland and a European Union Marie Curie International Fellowship.
The Ottawa Hospital Research Institute is the research arm of The Ottawa Hospital.
It is an affiliated institute of the University of Ottawa, closely associated with the University’s Faculties of Medicine and Health Sciences.