A new therapeutic contact lens that acts as a bandage for eye surface injuries could speed up healing of previously difficult-to-treat corneal wounds.
Researcher Professor Damien Harkin, from Queensland University of Technology’s Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation, said the ‘bandage’ consists of cells with special wound-healing properties. These cells, known as limbal mesenchymal stromal cells (L-MSC), would be isolated from donor eye tissue, that is usually discarded after routine transplants, and attached to the inner surface of a scleral lens, he said.
Current treatments involving bandages prepared from amniotic membranes provide only a limited supply of growth factors and anti-inflammatory and wound-healing properties and are more costly, he said, adding the lenses could be made available within hours of patients presenting to an eye clinic with either recently-acquired or chronic damage to their eye’s surface.
“Our therapy could provide welcome relief for patients suffering from chronic conditions such as corneal ulcers and persistent surface defects that haven’t responded to conventional therapies. The new treatment could also become useful as a part of the first-line therapy in the management of acute eye injuries from exposure to caustic chemicals, scalding liquids or excessive heat.”
A bank of well-characterised and tested donor L-MSC cells could provide a more reliable and cost-effective source of growth factors to quickly repair the eye, sad Prof Harkin adding the new treatment could be available to patients within as little as a few years subject to completion of rigorous clinical trials.
