Cornea 3D printing a boon to visually impaired

IIT Hyderabad, LV Prasad Eye Hospital and CCMB researchers have introduced the new innovation. They developed Cornea 3D printing for vision problems. This technology offers a minimally invasive procedure to prevent scarring following corneal injury and also a new treatment strategy to cure the existing blinding scar for which the currently available option is corneal transplantation. Also, a human-sized cornea has been fabricated by bioprinting technology towards the development of an artificial cornea for transplantation.

Hyderabad: Corneal disease is a leading cause of blindness and visual impairment in the country and in the rest of the developing world where there is also a huge shortage of donor corneal tissue to overcome this problem--IIT Hyderabad, LV Prasad Eye Hospital and CCMB researchers--have introduced the new innovation. They developed Cornea 3D printing for vision problems. This technology offers a minimally invasive procedure to prevent scarring following corneal injury and also a new treatment strategy to cure the existing blinding scar for which the currently available option is corneal transplantation. Also, a human-sized cornea has been fabricated by bioprinting technology towards the development of an artificial cornea for transplantation.

If any injury to the eye happened it can lead to corneal damage and loss of vision. The cornea may need to be completely or partially transplanted depending on the severity. For this, the cornea collected from the donor must be surgically implanted in the victim. With the latest research, the corneal problem can be solved without the need for surgery.

IIT Hyderabad’s researcher Dr Falguna Pati, associate professor, Department of Bio-medical Engineering, along with his team, LV Prasad Eye Hospital senior scientist Vivek Singh and CCMB scientist Kiran Kumar have played a key role in this innovation. Matrix hydrogel from discarded corneas from humans (which are stored at eye banks and unuseful) and this hydrogel can be applied immediately after injury, which helps to regenerate the cornea without scarring.

It is printed as a cornea by a 3D bioprinter. The cornea in the injured eye can be repaired without surgery by a cornea made by a 3D printer. This artificial cornea helps to grow natural corneal tissues. This innovation will solve the common corneal problems as well as the keratoconus. Details of the research have also been published in several international journals. The research also won the Gandhian Young Technology Award. It has already applied for patent rights in India as well as in the United States.