Artificial Cornea
Posted: Saturday, November 10, 2007 by Abhishek Krishnan in
Technology has made the future worth looking forward to due to its rapid advancements. The blind now have a ray of hope due to the artificial cornea that may well be the key to restoring sight for our people with damaged corneas.
The artificial corneas are based on a commercially available polymer which absorbs no water and allows no cells to grow on it. Once the polymers have been shaped, then the next step would be to coat the implants. Masks lie on them and then a special protein will be applied to the edge of the cornea, which the cells of the natural cornea can latch onto. In this way, the cornea implant can firmly connect with the natural part of the cornea, while the center remains free of cells and therefore clear.
The first implants have already been tested in rabbits’ eyes with promising results. If further tests are successful, the technology will be tried on humans in 2008.