Israel restores patient's sight with the help of the world's first 3D-printed cornea
In Israel, for the first time in the world, doctors have successfully restored a patient's vision using 3D printed cornea. This is reported by the TechEBlog.
The implant was made of biomaterial, which includes the patient's cells and a hydrogel matrix. Cornea fully reproduces the natural structure human - including all five layers.
How the operation went
The procedure took a long time less than one hour.
Doctors reported that:
implant has taken root without signs of rejection;
The patient gradually regained her sight;
the recovery process is faster than after a conventional transplant.
Doctors note that the new technology allows to accurately repeat the anatomy of the eye of a particular patient, which significantly increases the chances of success.
The value of the development
There is an acute shortage of donor corneas in the world, with only a small percentage of patients receiving the necessary transplantation.
Developers from Israel claim that their method:
scalable,
can provide hundreds of patients with one donor cell sample,
potentially completely covers the need for donor transplants in the future.
Context.
3D bioprinting is being actively developed in ophthalmology, but it is the fully functional cornea with all layers that has been considered one of the most difficult organs to reproduce. The success of Israeli doctors paves the way for a new era of regenerative medicine.
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