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Project

Development of a biomimetic cornea combining additive manufacturing and stem cell technologies.

Each year, there are 1.5-2.0 million new cases of monocular corneal blindness due to ocular trauma and corneal ulceration. This includes 500 new cases in Flanders, while only 350 corneal transplants are performed annually. This project aims to develop biomimetic corneal constructs that will be fabricated using 3D printing and which will be seeded with corneal stem cells, which allows cost-effective manufacturing of customized structures with high resolution. This project will focus on innovation via interdisciplinary collaboration between production engineering, biomaterials and cell biology in ophthalmology in order to bring the 3D printed biocornea to a proof-of-concept. The overall goal is to create a biocornea that is optically transparent, with appropriate mechanical and geometric properties that can serve as a replacement for the existing use of cadaveric donor corneas
Date:1 Jan 2015 →  31 Dec 2015
Keywords:OPHTHALMOLOGY
Disciplines:Ophthalmology and optometry