A new, potentially revolutionary device to treat corneal infections, co-developed by Auckland-based consultant ophthalmologist Dr Simon Dean, has won the prestigious, international American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery (ASCRS) 2020 Winning Pitch Challenge.
Now in its fourth year, the challenge seeks to encourage and reward innovative ophthalmic solutions and connect innovators with investors to accelerate prototype development to improve patient care.
Dr Dean’s award-winning Photon UVC Device, co-developed with Professor Sunil Shah, a corneal consultant ophthalmologist at the UK’s Birmingham & Midland Eye Centre, uses UVC to treat infectious keratitis. UVC is ultraviolet light with wavelengths between 200-280nm, commonly used for disinfection.
“There is no known microbial resistance to UVC light,” said Dr Dean. “Preliminary studies are promising, suggesting both safety and efficacy at very low doses. A lot more research needs to be done but this may be perfect for safe, empiric, first-line treatment for all corneal infections - bacterial, viral, and fungal.”
The new UVC corneal treatment device emerged from work Prof Shah and Dr Dean were doing into crosslinking, which uses ultraviolet light, over a decade ago. “There were early reports that crosslinking could kill bacteria, but back then it was 30 minutes soak with riboflavin photo-activator and 30 minutes exposure, whereas I could get the same result on agar plates at home, in one second with the new UVC LEDs. Proper lab studies were then conducted but this is how these things start.”
