Engineers at the University of Sheffield have developed a new technique for delivering stem cell therapy to help the natural repair of eyes damaged by accident or disease.
In research published in Acta Biomaterialia, the team described the method for producing membranes that mimic the structure of the eye to help in the grafting of stem cells to treat corneal damage.
Using microstereolithography and electrospinning techniques, they have been able to make a disc of biogradeable material, which is loaded with stem cells and fixed over the cornea. The disc has an outer ring that contains niches or pockets, like those found on the rim of a healthy cornea, into which stem cells taken from the patient's healthy eye are placed. They added that the small pockets helped cells to group together and acted as a useful reservoir of daughter cells so that a healthy population of stem cells could be retained in the eye.
Team member Dr Ilida Ortega Asencio said: 'The material across the centre of the disc is thinner than the ring, so it will biodegrade more quickly, allowing the stem cells to proliferate across the surface of the eye to repair the cornea.'
Professor Sheila MacNeil added that laboratory tests had shown the membranes supported cell growth and the next stage was to work with partners in the LV Prasad Eye Institute in India on a patient trial. 'One advantage of our design is that we have made the disc from materials already in use as biodegradeable sutures in the eye, so we know they won't cause a problem in the body.'
Researchers expected the treatment to be better and cheaper than current methods, as it eliminated some of the risk to patients from donor tissue and would be readily available for surgeons.