Acid attack victim Katie Piper has appeared in a TV documentary after undergoing stem cell treatment to restore vision in one of her eyes.
The procedure, known ex-vivo limbal stem cell allograft transplantation (EVSCALT), was carried out by ophthalmologist Sheraz Daya at the Centre for Sight in East Grinstead. A sheet of new stem cells was cultivated from a discarded donor corneal limbus stem cell source which was then inserted into the patient's limbal zone. Growth of the cells over subsequent weeks resulted in improved transparency of the cornea.
Daya has carried out the procedure on over 60 patients with severely scarred or damaged corneas since 1999.
TV celebrity Piper has had more than 100 operations to re-build her face since being attacked in 2008, but this was the first on her eye. Katie: The Science of Seeing Again, shown on Channel Four this week, tracked her progress resulting in an improvement to her vision.