No, it’s not a miracle, it’s the magic of science. Thanks to an implant made from pig collagen, fourteen blind people have regained their sight. Three of them even regained visual acuity of 20/20 after the operation. Thanks to this new technology, which is both less invasive and more accessible, corneal transplantation could finally be democratized throughout the world.
There are nearly 12.7 million people worldwide who are waiting for a corneal transplant. However, due to the shortage of donors, only 1 in 70 people can benefit from it. The cornea is the transparent, rounded part that covers the iris of the eye. It is she who transmits light to the lens and retina, allowing good vision. Certain diseases such as keratoconus alter the regularity of the cornea, causing it to thin and progressively deteriorate sight, up to blindness.
It is to restore sight to as many people as possible without depending on human donations that researchers have looked into this bio-engineering solution. In their study published in the scientific journal Nature Biotechnologymembers of the research team from Linköping University in Sweden explain how they managed to develop a cornea resembling the human cornea from collagen proteins from pig skin.
As part of this study, twenty patients were selected in India and Iran, two countries where corneal blindness is devastating, explains the site Futura Science. Their follow-up for two years showed the thickening of their cornea and of all the participants in the clinical trial, all regained better visual acuity.
A material of the future
Concretely, the operation consists of a small incision in the patient’s cornea in which the biomaterial is inserted. It is therefore no longer necessary to remove the patient’s cornea beforehand, as was hitherto the case. This less invasive operation is therefore faster and safer.
Not only is the transplant simpler than with a human cornea, but in addition, these artificial corneas can be mass produced. Neil Lagali, a researcher at the University of Linköping in Sweden, explains that human corneas had until now to be transplanted within two weeks. A deadline extended to two years thanks to this new technology.
« The results show that it is possible to develop a biomaterial that meets all the criteria for use as a human implant, which can be mass-produced and stored for up to two years. This allows us to circumvent the problem of shortage of donated corneal tissue and access other treatments for eye diseases ».
This technology could therefore become accessible on a large scale in order to restore sight to as many people as possible!