Scientists in Washington, D.C. are in the process of developing two different types of treatments for those suffering eyesight problems. Scientists are creating artificial corneas, which they hope could save the vision of those affected by corneal diseases. With thousands of people having lost their eyesight due to trauma, damages, absent limbal stem cells, or diseases, Dr. Joachim Storsberg and his team from the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Polymer Research (IAP) in Potsdam are creating the "ART CORNEA" project as an alternative means of restoring eye sight.
The project is in close cooperation with the Aachen Centre of Technology Transfer, the Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg, and the Ophthalmic Clinic Cologne-Merheim. "We are in the process of developing two different types of artificial corneas," Storsberg said. "One of them can be used as an alternative to a donor cornea in cases where the patient would not tolerate a donor cornea, let alone the issue of donor material shortage."
