DIFFICULT to treat eye injuries may be helped with a new therapeutic contact lens that acts as a bandage and can fast track healing.
The treatment is being developed at the Queensland University of Technology, with the “bandage” consisting of special wound-healing cells taken from donor eye tissue.
Professor Damien Harkin from the university’s Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation, based at the Queensland Eye Institute, said the cells, known as limbal mesenchymal stromal cells), would be isolated from donor eye tissue and then attached to the inner surface of a special type of contact lens known as a scleral lens.
“The donor cells are readily accessible from tissue that is usually discarded after routine corneal transplants,” Professor Harkin said.
“Based upon preliminary data we believe that the donor cells release a range of wound-healing factors that encourage repair of the eye’s surface.”
Professor Harkin said the lenses could be 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,” he said.
“The new treatment could also become useful as a part of the first-line therapy in the management of acute eye injuries experienced in the workplace or at home arising from exposure to caustic chemicals, scalding liquids or excessive heat.”
The current treatment typically involves using bandages prepared from amniotic membrane donated from human placentas.
“Amniotic membrane (AM) provides a limited supply of growth factors and components with anti-inflammatory and wound-healing properties,” Professor Harkin said.
“The problem is, however, that AM displays variable properties both within and between donor tissue samples.
“AM is presently imported from New Zealand, which delays treatment and adds to its cost.
“We propose that a bank of well-characterised and tested donor limbal mesenchymal stromal cells would provide a more reliable and cost-effective source of growth factors to quickly repair the eye.”
Professor Harkin said the new treatment could be available to patients within a few years.
