This is very exciting news. It is one of those stories that is so beautiful in its utter simplicity.

Researchers from Australia’s University of New South Wales “have used contact lenses coated in stem cells to restore sight to patients suffering a blinding disease,” with the “groundbreaking operation” bringing “significant improvements in vision within a matter of weeks.” The new “procedure uses a person’s own cells to heal damage to the cornea — the transparent outermost layer of the eye,” and is “carried out under local anesthetic, with patients returning home within two hours of surgery, removing the need for expensive hospital stays.”

The three patients who have been “treated so far had very poor vision caused by corneal disease — the fourth most common form of blindness, affecting around 10 million worldwide.” Corneal blindness “is caused by genetics, surgery, burns, infection or chemotherapy, and treatments usually include grafts and transplants, and drugs, such as steroids.”(Via AOA’s First Look)

You can read more in the Mail Online, here.

Be Well!

Nathan Bonilla-Warford, OD
Bright Eyes Family Vision Care
Located in the Westchase area of Tampa.