Synthetic Artificial Cornea: 2nd Generation Design for Clinical Implantation Effectiveness

Project Description:
With 12.7 million people affected worldwide, corneal blindness ranks third in the causes of blindness. Although surgical treatment such as corneal transplantation exists, the lack of matching quality donor tissue for replacement limits its impact on public health worldwide.

A synthetic artificial cornea has been proposed to fulfill the unmet need at lower cost and wider availability. With the addition of a nanopatterned surface, the synthetic device will be antibacterial and promote post-op tissue healing, further advancing its therapeutic benefit.

We intend to investigate new materials with higher flexibility and biocompatibility and its related larger scale production method, to improve the 1st generation implantable device for optimal clinical practice and further lower its fabrication cost. 2nd generation cornea device will be characterized according to FDA guidelines, and the team will aim for a pilot animal trial.

Project Mentor:
Engineering Mentor: Albert Yee, PhD, Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, UCI, afyee@uci.edu
Physician Mentor: None

Team Members:

Hugo William Budhitresno, Brenda Marie Cruz, Jiaji Li, Jingyi Luo, Daniel Nay Schuder