What about clinical trials of artificial corneas?

An artificial cornea refers to the artificially cultivated corneal endothelial cell layer that can be used for transplantation. We know that for many blind people, if they can transplant the cornea, they can restore their sight, but the cornea is very precious and can usually only be obtained through organ donation. If the clinical trial of artificial cornea is very successful, it will be great news for some people who urgently need corneal surgery.

Clinical trials

1. Currently in China, the cost of corneal transplant surgery is approximately RMB 10,000 to 20,000. However, due to the severe shortage of donor corneas, most patients who need corneal transplants cannot undergo surgery immediately and must wait in line at the hospital for the eye bank to provide corneas. However, my country's corneal donation business started late and has not yet reached scale or standardization, and the vast majority of patients do not have the opportunity to undergo transplant surgery.

2. Human clinical trials will be conducted as early as the end of 2010, and the first batch will include 300 surgeries. Human clinical trials will be completed within two years, and if nothing unexpected happens, large-scale human applications will be possible within 2 to 3 years. The price of an artificial corneal endothelium donor is approximately between RMB 10,000 and RMB 12,000.

3. They have currently planned to apply to establish the National Engineering Laboratory of the National Development and Reform Commission. Currently, this technology still faces problems such as medical registration, human clinical trials, and market promotion. It will take some time before we can truly rely on "artificial corneal endothelium" to help patients with corneal endothelial blindness regain their sight.

Common diseases

1. In the past, if there was a problem with the cornea, one could only wait for others to donate corneas for transplantation. However, due to the extremely low corneal donation rate, the number of people in China who can actually undergo corneal transplantation surgery accounts for only one thousandth of the patients who are blind due to corneal diseases. In the future, more patients who have become blind due to corneal diseases will be able to regain their sight through transplantation of artificially "planted" corneas.

2. Among various eye diseases, corneal disease is the most common. Corneal disease can cause the transparent cornea to appear grayish-white and turbid, blocking light from entering the eye and causing blurred vision, decreased vision, or even blindness. According to statistics from the World Health Organization, there are currently about 60 million corneal blind people in the world, and China accounts for about 5 million of them.

3. Since the mature cornea can no longer undergo cell division, the most effective means of treating corneal diseases is currently corneal transplantation.