UK Keratoconus Self-Help and Support Association

I had to post this as it demonstrates some very impressive post op results! not to mention the comments on less sutures and faster suture removal!

All we need now is to eliminate Rejection and we can now be much safer knowing that we dont have the issues that have plagued transplants for many many years!

If we can now, using Lasers, cut out the tissue, and also use them to reattach the donor tissue based on the individual cornea....(use some object modelling software) we should in theory be able to predict an outcome for individual corneas! Now thats impressive! Assuming it does go that way!

Article

http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/news_press_release,11115.shtml

Is this similar to the graphs they were doing in Italy with the Robot?

I read about it here and it fascinated me, apparently the healing time is down to 6 weeks rather than the projected 6 months.

I may have may facts slightly muddled but do recall their test graft was a great success.

Benefits with laser than can bring the healing time down is the cleanliness and smoothness of the cut. It is easier for the tissue to 'mesh together' and heal. With the cookie cutter you get damaged cells that die and these have to be 'shed' before the healthy donour and recipient cells can mesh together.

ChrisK

You are in part correct. The recovery time for the grafts are some what amazing when compared with todays healing times.

But as Gareth quite rightly points out, its all to do with the cut itself and how the cornea is re-attached.

I beleive the next thing is to re-attached the cornea by laser.....but this would involve heat to some degree to seal the initial layers back....but I can tell you something....if we can master that...which do think we will soon, than its the end of sutures! However, potential issue here is how then do you manipulate the corneal structure to better vision?......food for thought!

This will sound odd, but experiments are taking place where tissue is glued together.

Basically as the glue sets, it does so in a lattice like structure for the cells to grow in.

As the cell numbers increase, so they take their nutrients from the glue itself. Such technology if employed in the cornea would yield strength during the recovery process, unifrom tension so much reduced astigmatism.

This really all sounds wonderfully hopeful. A good time to be alive, indeed!

Andrew

heat & seal, glue, so long as they don't try staples!

But they do, Lousie, although I think that staples are used more for keeping they eyelid closed than for attaching the new cornea.



Andrew

For the lid, sometimes I know, but not the cornea [whimper]

What'll happen is that these new techniques will become easy to master and the equipment will become freely available.....to no one but the wealthy that can go private,our NHS wont even give life saving drugs to cancer patients that live in the wrong post code area so why would they spend extra money so us KC sufferers can have less problems?