Swedish scientists have created a new eye implant that has already shown its effectiveness. This is an implant of the cornea or cornea of ​​the eye – the most convex part of the shell of the eyeball. According to New Atlas, the new implant was created using collagen protein derived from the skin of a pig.

Every year, more than 1 million people worldwide lose their sight due to damage to the cornea of ​​the eye. It is possible to restore vision to such people with the help of a corneal transplant from a human donor. But such operations are very complex and expensive, and therefore very few people in the world can afford it.

Scientists at Linköping University in Sweden set out a few years ago to create a corneal implant made of collagen protein, which can be derived from pig skin. Two years ago, scientists performed the first artificial corneal transplant on 20 volunteers, 14 of whom were already blind. And now the results of this first experiment have been made public. It turned out that all participants in the study improved their vision.

Scientists believe that such biosynthetic corneas could effectively replace donor corneas in transplantation. The advantage of these corneas is that these eye tissues can be produced cheaply from collagen obtained from pig skin and can be stored for 2 years. For example, human donor corneas can be stored for only 2 weeks before transplantation.

According to Neil Lagali of Linköping University, another key achievement of the new research is an innovative method for transplanting the cornea of ​​the eye. Now if the old cornea needs to be removed for a new corneal transplant, to insert the implant you only need to make a small incision in the shell of the eye and insert the implant into the existing damaged cornea.

The scientists said that two years after the corneal transplant, not only did all the participants in the experiment regain their vision, but they did not experience any side effects from the operation.

“The new tissue took root very quickly, it was necessary to use special eye drops for 2 months after the operation to prevent its rejection. Now, when performing a human corneal transplant, you need to take special drugs for several years.” says Lagali.

But scientists say much more clinical trials are needed before this eye implant can be used on a mass scale.

“We want our invention to be available to everyone, not just the wealthy. It will save millions of people from losing their sight,” says Lagali.

Focus He has already written that a permanent implant has been placed in the human brain for the first time in the United States. This implant allows a person to control various digital devices with the help of thought.

Moreover Focus He wrote that scientists are testing bionic eyes on sheep and now they want to do similar experiments on humans.

We remind you that scientists have learned to predict death with the help of the eye and that the accuracy of these predictions is quite high.