Eye on the future

An interview in the Education Times of India with Professor MacNeil describing corneal damage and repair research.

In an article published on 31 May 2017, Sheila MacNeil, professor of tissue engineering, department of materials science & engineering, Kroto Research Institute University of Sheffield, UK, speaks to Ruchi Chopda on the status of corneal damage treatment in India.

Over the last four years, one of the significant developments, led by Dr Virender Sangwan at LV Prasad Eye Institute (LVPEI), Hyderabad, is to use a small piece of tissue from a patient’s unaffected eye to treat scarring and regenerate the cornea in the damaged eye (in cases where patients have scarring in one eye only). This is now done by putting the corneal explants on human amniotic membrane and has proven very successful. Dr Sangwan and Professor MacNeil are evaluating electrospun polymer membranes as a synthetic alternative to the amniotic membrane in a first-in-man safety study. These are manufactured  by the Electrospinning Company in the UK, under rigorous health and safety and manufacturing conditions suitable for this first-in-man study. To read the article click here.

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