The biosynthetic material could make treatment for damaged corneas more affordable and available.
A team of scientists say they’ve found a new way to help people with damaged corneas: bioengineered implants created from pig skin. In findings from a small clinical trial published this month, the implants were shown to restore people’s eyesight for up to two years, including in those who were legally blind. Should it continue to show promise, the technology may one day provide a mass-produced alternative to donated human corneas for people with these conditions.
The cornea is the transparent outer covering of the eye. In addition to protecting the rest of the eye, it helps us see by focusing the light that passes through it. Corneas can heal from mild abrasions easily enough, but more serious injury and certain diseases can leave behind permanently damaged corneas that start to impair our eyesight. Around 4 million people are thought to suffer from vision-related problems caused by injured corneas, according to the World Health Organization, and it’s one of the leading causes of blindness.
For those with severely damaged corneas, the only truly effective treatment is a transplant of a healthy cornea, also known as a corneal graft. Unfortunately, like many organs, human corneas have to be used very soon after they’ve been donated, and they’re often in short supply, especially for people living in poorer countries. That scarcity has fueled efforts by researchers to find other methods to replace or support damaged corneas.
