June 11, 2009 
Stem cells grown on contact lenses have been used to improve the sight of patients with corneal damage, according to a new study…
Scientists at the University of New South Wales, Sydney performed the new treatment on three people– two men and a woman – who had damaged epitheliums with success. All patients saw an improvement in their sight within weeks researchers reported.
Led by Dr Nick Di Girolamo, small samples of stem cells from the eyes of each patient were removed and then cultivated on therapeutic contact lenses.
The patients wore the lenses for 10 days and during that period the stem cells moved off the lenses and onto the damaged corneas.
Scientists working on the small-scale study used the patients’ own limbal stem cells to guarantee that the transplant would not be rejected.
Explaining the new technique, Dr Di Girolamo told : “It takes 10 days to culture the cells in the lab but after that the procedure is rapid, keeping patients in hospital for just a few hours. It’s also a relatively inexpensive technique which does not require immunosuppression to prevent graft rejection because we are using ‘self’ cells, and is relatively non-invasive.”
The Australian-based researchers hope to secure funding from the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) which would enable them to develop the technique further and perform a larger clinical trial.
Dr Di Girolamo added: “We are very excited about this new technique because it’s completely autologous grown in the patients’ own serum and placed back onto their own eye.
“We hope this is a permanent treatment. Our current successful follow-ups with our three patients have been between 12-18 months. If we note a relapse, which we haven’t yet, then the procedure can be easily repeated.”
Taken from: http://www.otmagazine.co.uk