In a major breakthrough in human tissue replication, for the first time ever a 3D-printed cornea has been transplanted onto a legally blind patient's eye, successfully restoring their sight.
That's from Rambam Eye Institute in Haifa, Israel, which worked with a company called Precise Bio that specializes in regenerative tech and bio-fabricated tissues. This procedure, completed towards the end of October, involved a corneal implant grown entirely from cultured, living human corneal cells, rather than donor tissue.
This is a big deal because it could help millions of people around the world at risk of sight loss owing to corneal blindness. The cornea can be damaged from injury, infections, or genetic disorders. Corneal transplant surgeries have a high success rate (around 97%) and donor tissue is easily available in some developed countries like the US where you typically only need to wait a few days for a procedure – but it can take years in other countries that don't have eye banks and centralized infrastructure to make tissue available on demand.
What's interesting about the 3D-printing approach used here is that a single cornea from a healthy, deceased donor was cultured in the lab to create some 300 corneal implants – which means it can be deployed to tackle donor tissue shortages at scale in countries around the world.
It's worth noting that the 3D-printed cornea was originally developed all the way back in 2018, at Newcastle University in the UK. Precise Bio, for its part, says it developed its 3D printing system in collaboration with clinicians over the last decade. That gives us a sense of how long it takes to go from breakthrough to application.
The company noted its technology could also be used to print cardiac tissue, and liver and kidney cells. Naturally, that'll need to be validated and trialed extensively before it can be commercialized, but this could spell relief for so many patients who need organ transplants where supply is constrained, in the coming years.
Source: Rambam Health Care Campus
