- Implant from pig’s skin could cure blindness.
- Over 12 million people turned blind due to damaged corneas globally.
- New transplant can be produced for public and results can last two years.
LINKÖPING: According to a new study published in the journal Nature Biotechnology, an implant from pig’s skin could cure blindness.
Participants of the study who underwent surgery restored their vision and did not go back to visual difficulties even after two years.
The procedure was so groundbreaking that blind people did not only restore vision but ended up with 20:20 vision.
The protein implant is made of collagen from pig skin which is similar to the human cornea (the outermost layer of the eye).
Over 12 million people turned blind due to damaged corneas globally. Experts have said that the new transplant can be produced for the public and can last for two years. Researchers also believe that this transplant can give poorer countries more hope where donated corneal transplants are rare.
The study included 14 blind persons and six partially blind from India and Iran. They suffered from an illness called keratoconus in which the cornea becomes so thin it leads to blindness.
The team of researchers also developed a less invasive method for the operation to treat keratoconus.
