Stem Cell-Containing Contact Lenses Can Restore Sight
Scientists at the UK’s University of Sheffield hope to help millions of people around the world retain or even regain their sight with a specialized contact lens. The biodegradable implant, loaded with stem cells—the building blocks of tissue growth—would be fitted on the eye, allowing it to naturally heal itself. The stem cell-containing lenses were designed to treat damaged corneas, one of the world’s major contributors to blindness.
“The disc has an outer ring containing pockets into which stem cells taken from the patient’s healthy eye can be placed,” University of Scheffield faculty Ilida Ortega Asencio said. “The material across the center of the disc is thinner than the ring, so it will biodegrade more quickly, allowing the stem cells to proliferate across the surface of the eye to repair the cornea.”
Corneal damage can be caused by a variety of eye injuries, infections, surgeries and even inflammation from chronic dry eyes. Thick white scar tissue can form across the cornea causing partial or complete vision loss.
Traditional treatment for corneal blindness includes either corneal transplants or grafting of stem cells onto the eye using a donated human membrane as a temporary carrier to deliver the cells. Sometimes, however, these treatments fail after a few years when the repaired eyes do not retain the stem cells. One of the benefits of the new disc is it contains small pockets to house and protect the stem cells, keeping them grouped together in the eye. The treatments are expected to not only work better than current methods, but be less expensive, as well.
Because laboratory tests have shown positive results in cell growth, clinical trials are expected to begin soon in India.
