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Tooth Transplanted into Eye Helps Cure Blindness

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by Aaron Saenz on September 21st, 2009
Kay Thornton became the first US patient to have her vision restored with the help of a tooth transplanted in her eye.

Kay Thornton became the first US patient to have her vision restored with the help of a tooth transplanted in her eye.

When you are blind and trying to restore your sight, you’ll try anything. I mean, anything. US doctors have recently returned a woman’s vision by using a transplanted tooth to help anchor a telescope in her eye. That’s right, a tooth. The procedure took several surgeries at Bascom Palmer Eye Institute in Miami, but it has given Kay Thornton her vision back after nine years of blindness. Check out the clip from NBC Today Show (via Hulu) after the break, apologies for the commercial.

Part of what is remarkable about this surgery is that it’s actually more than 40 years old. Modified osteo-odonto keratoprosthesis (MOOKP) was developed in Italy in the 1960s. It’s been performed around 600 times worldwide, but Thornton is the first US patient. Unlike corneal transplants, MOOKP does not require donor matching as all the tissue comes from the patient herself.

Unlike the other telescope implants we’ve discussed, the MOOKP telescope is simply correcting corneal damage. The rest of the eye is healthy. In Ms. Thornton’s case, the cornea was scarred due to lack of moisture stemming from Stevens-Johnson syndrome.
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Implantable Eye Telescope Brings Sight Back To The Blind

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by Drew Halley on April 10th, 2009

imt_photoFor the millions of people who suffer from age-related eye degeneration, restoring sight to the blind might sound less like reality and more like a miracle. But thanks to an incredible miniature eye implant that works to restore central vision, the future’s looking bright.

The macula is a part of the retina responsible for highly detailed central vision. It contains a high density of cone cells, which allow us to perceive fine detail and quick movement in our environment – for healthy individuals, that is. Patients suffering from age-related macular degeneration (AMD) partially or totally lose this functionality, resulting in a “blind spot” where their focal point normally rests. This can make it difficult to read, recognize faces, or even watch television… until now.

The Implantable Miniature Telescope, or IMT, is a tiny prosthetic implanted into the patient’s eye. Rather than directing light to the damaged macula, the telescope projects the image onto a broader surface of the retina that surrounds the macula. In this way, visual information is redirected to healthy rods and cones, and can be processed in the brain as central vision.

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Vision Restored to Blind Patients in Gene Therapy Breakthrough

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by Keith Kleiner on January 9th, 2009

The emerging field of gene therapy took a huge leap forward in 2008 when vision was substantially restored to several blind patients. 

The patients in the study suffer from Leber’s congenital amaurosis (LCA), a rare inherited eye disease caused by a defective gene called RPE65. The condition appears at birth or in the first few months of life and causes progressive deterioration in vision.  Until now there have been no effective treatments available.

Below is an excellent “must watch” video from CBS documenting this amazing breakthrough, followed by further details and comments:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Normally, cells in the eye activate the RPE65 gene to produce an enzyme necessary for the function and health of a protective layer of cells underlying light- and color-detecting photoreceptor cells in the eye.  Patients with a defective RPE65 gene are unable to produce this enzyme, leading to photoreceptor cells that are otherwise healthy but unable to do their job.  Over many years the photoreceptor cells themselves steadily become damaged beyond repair. 

Researchers theorized that if they could “upgrade” these photoreceptor cells with the non-defective gene then damage to the photoreceptor cells would cease and any remaining healthy cells would regain their ability to function.  A virus was used to inject the functioning gene into the target cells and within a week vision improved and remained so after 90 days — the study’s endpoint.

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Artificial Retina Brings Sight Back to the Blind

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by Keith Kleiner on January 4th, 2009

artificial retinaWow!  Physorg.com reports that an artificial retina has achieved real success in bringing limited sight to the blind.  The Department of Energy estimates that 6 million Americans are blind because their retinas have been damaged by diseases like macular degeneration.  Worldwide they estimate that 25 million people have been made blind and that this number will rise to 50 million by 2020.

A company called Second Sight Medical Products in partnership with a large consortium headed by the Department of Energy is currently testing its second generation model, called the Argus II, on more than 20 individuals.  Patients that were completely blind are able to see moving objects, read very large print, and recognize several other visual cues once implanted with the Argus II artificial retina.  From the article:

A patient named Terry spotted the shadow of his 18 year-old son as he passed
by on a sidewalk. “It was the first time I’d seen anything of him since
he was 5 years old,” Terry told Artificial Retina News, a publication
of the Artificial Retina Project.

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