Hyderabad August 15: For the first time in India, researchers in the city have successfully 3D-printed an artificial cornea and transplanted it into a rabbit eye. Researchers from L V Prasad Eye Institute (LVPEI), Hyderabad, Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad (IITH), and the Center for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), Hyderabad, have collaborated to develop a 3D- printed cornea from the human donor corneal tissue. Developed indigenously through government and philanthropic funding, the product is completely natural, contains no synthetic components, is free of animal residues, and is safe to use in patients, a statement here said on Sunday.
Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Sayan Basu and Dr. Vivek Singh lead researchers from LVPEI said,?This can be a groundbreaking and disruptive innovation in treating diseases like corneal scarring (where the cornea becomes opaque) or Keratoconus (where the cornea gradually becomes thin with time). It is a made-in-India product by an Indian clinician-scientist team and the first 3-D printed human cornea that is optically and physically suitable for transplantation.
