Written by: Ilse Strauss, Bridges for Peace
Article source: www.bridgesforpeace.com
A groundbreaking Israeli invention is bringing the hope of restored sight for those suffering from corneal blindness.
Nearly 30 million people worldwide are blind in one or both eyes due to damage or disease to the structure or shape of the cornea, with some 2 million new cases reported each year. While a cornea transplant offers a beacon of hope for restored sight, the option is far from a guarantee. Not all patients are viable transplant candidates, and even those who are may reject the transplanted cornea. Then there’s the hurdle of impossibly long waiting lists.
The bottom line? Many who suffer from corneal blindness have been doomed to a life of darkness—until now.
CorNeat KPro, the first artificial cornea that integrates with the eye wall, is set to start the first human implantation clinical trial in Beilinson Hospital on ten test patients who are not candidates for, or have failed at least one transplant.
The brainchild of CorNeat Vision, an innovative ophthalmic medical device company based in central Israel, the synthetic device’s lens promises the same optical quality as a perfectly functioning cornea and integrates with the eye tissue using a nano-fabric skirt inserted under the conjunctiva—the white part of the eye—for optimal healing. The CorNeat KPro thus replaces deformed, scarred or opacified corneas to restore vision immediately after implantation and has been hailed as a “revolutionary innovation in corneal replacement therapy.”
“Our device’s implantation procedure, which has been developed and perfected in the past four years, does not rely on donor tissue, is relatively simple and takes less than an hour to perform,” Dr. Gilad Litvin, CorNeat chief medical officer and KPro inventor, said. “We expect it will enable millions of blind patients around the world, even in areas where there is no corneal practice nor culture of organ donation, to regain their sight.”
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Date published: 04/08/2020
Feature image: Amanda Dalbjörn/unsplash.com
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