Adhesive Gel Bonds to Eye Surface, Could Repair Injuries Without Surgery:
An adhesive gel packed with light-activated chemicals can seal cuts or ulcers on the cornea -- the clear surface of the eye -- and then encourage the regeneration of corneal tissue, according to a preclinical study published online today in Science Advances. The new technology, named GelCORE (gel for corneal regeneration), could one day reduce the need for surgery to repair injuries to the cornea, including those that would today require corneal transplantation.
"Our hope is that this biomaterial could fill in a major gap in technology available to treat corneal injuries," said co-corresponding author Reza Dana, MD, Director of the Cornea and Refractive Surgery Service at Massachusetts Eye and Ear and the Claes H. Dohlman Professor of Ophthalmology at Harvard Medical School. "We set out to create a material that is clear, strongly adhesive, and permits the cornea to not only close the defect, but also to regenerate. We wanted this material to allow the cells of the cornea to mesh with the adhesive and to regenerate over time to mimic something as close to the native cornea as possible."
Corneal injuries are a common cause of visual impairment worldwide, with more than 1.5 million new cases of corneal blindness reported every year. The current standard of care for filling in cuts, thinning areas, or holes in the cornea (corneal defects) includes the use of synthetic glues or surgery to patch the eye with tissue and/or corneal transplants. The synthetic glues currently available are rough, inherently toxic to tissues, difficult to handle, and can lead to significant vision loss due to the material's opacity and poor integration with corneal tissues. Corneal transplants carry risks of post-transplant complications, including infection or rejection.
Journal Reference:
Ehsan Shirzaei Sani, et. al. Sutureless repair of corneal injuries using naturally derived bioadhesive hydrogels. Science Advances, 2019; 5 (3): eaav1281 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aav1281
What if you blink before it's dry?
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Thursday March 21 2019, @08:17PM (9 children)
What will this treatment cost in the US? Will it be under $100,000.00 ?
And . . . What will it cost in Canada?
The lower I set my standards the more accomplishments I have.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by krishnoid on Thursday March 21 2019, @08:45PM (8 children)
More importantly, if you put it on your eye and then touch your eyeball to someone else's eyeball, what happens then?
(Score: 4, Insightful) by DannyB on Thursday March 21 2019, @08:54PM (7 children)
Super Glue is adhesive. Probably much cheaper.
Why would anyone touch their eyeball to someone else's? Beyond why, it sounds difficult to actually do.
If someone has a nose ring, and they wake up with a hangover and the thin metal spoke of a bycicle's tire going through their nose ring, still also attached to their nose. What heppens then?
Obviously their head mobility is severely limited. They better hope the bicycle doesn't role, even a few inches, because that could turn the tire considerably, and move the spoke along with the nose ring.
The lower I set my standards the more accomplishments I have.
(Score: 2) by Snow on Thursday March 21 2019, @09:36PM (6 children)
What if the bicycle tire IS the nosering?
*MIND BLOWN*
Would eye-to-eye contact be ocular sex? I had a girlfriend in high school who wanted to lick my eyeball...
(Score: 1) by RandomFactor on Thursday March 21 2019, @10:03PM
They really should do better at teaching anatomy. Not being clear leads to all kinds of miscommunication these days.
В «Правде» нет известий, в «Известиях» нет правды
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Thursday March 21 2019, @10:20PM (2 children)
The tongue is rough and the eye is sensitive, I doubt that would feel very good.
Eye-to-eye contact would be difficult, if possible and likely wouldn't feel good. Again, as the eye is very sensitive. Thus, the eyelashes to keep out debris, etc.
It would be ocular sex in the same way, holding someone's hand is prehensile appendage sex.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 2) by Snow on Thursday March 21 2019, @10:35PM (1 child)
There is no fluid exchange when holding hands.
She didn't, like, *lick* my eye. More like touch her tongue to it.
(Score: 2) by MostCynical on Friday March 22 2019, @03:12AM
Did you reciprocate?
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
(Score: 2) by PartTimeZombie on Thursday March 21 2019, @11:14PM (1 child)
Well?
Come on man, don't leave us hanging.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 22 2019, @12:07AM
That was all the tongue action he got.
(Score: 1) by anubi on Friday March 22 2019, @04:38AM
Think it may be the next LASIK?
At first glance, this strikes me as useful for refractive correction.
Question... Why am I not seeing cheap bottles of asthma inhalant which is administered through the same vaping systems used by "vapers"?
The chemical can't be all that expensive, albeit the inhaler is.
"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]