Culturing Corneas and Ireland's first corneal stem cell transplant
Channel: nicb.dcu
Date: 2019-04-09

This video is an interview with Dr. Finbarr O'Sullivan for the 2019 Presidents Award for Innovation. Finbarr eventually won in the "Academic and Research" category for his topic "Cultured Cornea".

The first cornea-limbal stem cell transplant in Ireland was performed on June 7th, 2016 at the Royal Victoria Eye & Ear Hospital. Patrick Godfrey of Co Tipperary underwent the procedure during an hour-long operation by Mr William Power, Consultant Ophthalmic Surgeon at the Royal Victoria Eye and Ear Hospital (RVEEH) Dublin, in an attempt to restore his deteriorating sight. 

The transplant provides a new outer layer of stem cells on the cornea, allowing light to enter the eye and potentially restore vision. While it will take up to 6 weeks to establish if there has been an improvement in the patient’s vision, it is hoped that this tool can be used in the future by Irish clinicians to help patients who have damage to their cornea. 

The cornea is the transparent dome on the front of the eye, which acts like a window, protecting the inner light-detecting components of the eye from dust and germs, as well as acting as the outermost lens of the eye.

The limbal stem cells help maintain a clear cornea. The health of the cornea on the front surface of the eye is essential for vision. Deficiency of these stem cells results in corneal inflammation, opacification, vascularisation, pain and loss of vision. This damage can occur due to burns or in certain inherited conditions.

While this technique has been available in a number of other countries, until now this was not a treatment option available in Ireland. The operation represents the culmination of a collaboration between researchers, scientists and clinicians in the National Institute for Cellular Biotechnology (NICB) in Dublin City University (DCU), the Royal Victoria Eye and Ear Hospital (RVEEH) and the Irish Blood Transfusion Service (IBTS), which is also the National Eye Bank.