An artificial cornea developed by an Israeli company has been successfully implanted in the eye of a man who lost his sight a decade ago.
According to a statement from CorNeat Vision, the 78-year-old patient regained his vision after the CorNeat KPro device was implanted in his eye.
The company said the implant replaces deformed, scarred or opaque corneas as it melts with the eye wall. The device is designed to integrate with the eye tissue using a patented non-degradable synthetic nanofabric skirt, which is placed under the conjunctiva.
The procedure was performed on January 11 by Professor Irit Bahar, head of the ophthalmology department at Rabin Medical Center, in Petah Tikva, Israel.
After the procedure, the company reported that the patient was able to recognize his family and read words.
“The moment we removed the bandages was emotional and meaningful,” Dr. Bahar said in a statement. “Moments like these are the fulfillment of our vocation as doctors. We are proud to be at the forefront of this exciting and meaningful project that will no doubt affect the lives of millions of people. ”
In 2020, CorNeat Vision received approval to advance clinical trials of artificial cornea in 10 patients with corneal blindness.
Gilad Litvin, MD, co-founder of CorNeat Vision, chief physician and inventor of CorNeat KPro, said in a statement that being in the room with the patient was a “surreal” experience.
“After years of hard work, seeing a teammate deploy the CorNeat KPro easily and seeing another human regain sight the next day was electrifying and exciting, there were a lot of tears in the room,” he said. Dr. “This is an extremely important milestone for CorNeat Vision, key to our journey to enable people around the world to fully enjoy their vision potential.”
Almog Aley-Raz, co-founder of CorNeat Vision, CEO and vice president of research and development, noted in the statement that the implementation is the first step in a multinational clinical trial, aimed at achieving the CE mark, the authorization of the FDA and NMPA of China approval.
Aley-Raz noted that a total of 10 patients are approved for trial at Rabin Medical Center in Israel, with two additional sites scheduled to open this January in Canada and 6 more at different stages of the approval process in France, the United States and Holland.
“Our first trial includes blind patients who are not suitable candidates for a corneal transplant or have failed one or more corneal transplants,” Aley-Raz said in the statement. “Given the visual performance of our device, the expected healing time and retention, and the fact that it cannot carry the disease, we plan to begin a second study later this year with broader guidelines for approving our cornea artificial as a first-line treatment, displacing the use of donor tissue used in corneal transplants of all thicknesses. “