Blind Man Regains Vision After Artificial Cornea Transplant From Israeli Company

Artificial cornea or keratoprosthesis are devices that play a crucial role in combating corneal blindness in patients who are no longer candidates for penetrating keratoplasty (PK). According to Eye World, there are several types of artificial cornea in use today in the US.

Some of these are the Boston K-Pro (also known as Dohlman-Doane), developed by Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary (MEEI) in the 1960s and has been in use in the US since 1992. Another one is the AlphaCor developed by Argus Biomedical in Australia and has been available in the US since 2002.

Earlier versions of the artificial cornea had high rates of complications, so scientists worldwide try to develop new versions that could restore the sight of blind people. For example, an Israeli startup company has successfully restored the sight of a 78-year-old man, who has been blind for ten years, using their artificial cornea known as CorNeat KPro.

Regaining Vision After A Decade

Israeli company CorNeat Vision has successfully transplanted an artificial cornea to the eye of a man who lost his sight a decade ago. The company said that CorNeat KPro is a keratoprosthesis that replaces deformed, scarred, or opacified corneas as it melds with the eyewall.

According to the Ophthalmology Times report, CorNeat KPro is designed to integrate into the ocular tissue using a patented synthetic and non-degradable nano fabric skirt placed under the conjunctiva of the eye.

The transplant was performed by Rabin Medical Center's ophthalmology department head Professor Irit Bahar on January 11, 2021, in Petah Tikva, Israel.

In an emotional and significant moment, the company said that the patient could recognize his family and read words. Dr. Bahar said that it is at these moments that he feels fulfillment in their calling as doctors. It makes him proud to be at the forefront of the new artificial cornea that he is undoubtedly helping many lives.

"The surgical procedure was straightforward, and the result exceeded all of our expectations," said Bahar.

Moreover, the artificial cornea inventor Dr. Gilad Litvin said that it felt surreal during the unveiling of the artificial cornea. more so, when the patient finally regained his sight a day after the operation, which he described as "electrifying and emotionally moving."

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Approved for Clinical Trials

CorNeat Vision was granted a go signal to conduct its clinical trials on ten people at Rabin Medical Center with corneal blindness in 2020, Daily Wire reported. In a statement, Litvin said that the company expects their artificial cornea to enable millions of blind patients worldwide to regain their sight even in those areas where a corneal transplant is not available or that corneal donation is not practiced.

To that, Bahar added that the technology could indeed become a key to turning the tide on global corneal blindness.

CorNeat Vision is set to conduct clinical trials with two additional sites this January in Canada. They also have six proposals for clinical trials at different stages in the approval process in France, the Us, and the Netherlands.