Artificial Cornea Restores Sight to the Blind
Scientists have recently discovered that by inserting a small sliver of collagen into the eye that it actually encourages other cornea cells to begin to regrow, eventually restoring vision to the patient. It works as a sort of elemental building block for surrounding cornea cells to begin growth. They need something to attach to, and since the cornea itself is made of collagen, the collagen implant that is placed in the eye is the perfect structure to make that happen.
This process is incredibly important for a couple reasons. For one, the process is designed so that the patient’s cells are regrowing and no artificial tissue is being used that might possibly be rejected by the body. Also, this will allow doctors to treat more patients who have damaged corneas–either through infection or injury–because it does not require any transplant tissue from another person. With 42,000 people a year receiving cornea transplants, one can only imagine how many more may be waiting on the sidelines who could be treated with this process as well.
While this study is just beginning, their trials have been very successful. If future trials confirm those positive results, this treatment could realistically become commonplace in a few short years.
This is a very large step in the right direction. With more research being conducted to eliminate vision loss, it encourages scientists and doctors to experiment on many different types of vision loss so that they can get the full picture, so to speak, on how the eye works and what treatments can be given to ensure that it works properly.
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