Designing a gas foamed scaffold for keratoprosthesis

• Novel design of artificial cornea using copolymers
• Enhanced to be mechanically and structurally stable and surgically suturable
• Promotes biointegration assessed by cell viability and migration

Artificial corneas or keratoprostheses are intended to replace diseased or damaged cornea in the event that vision cannot be restored using donor cornea tissue. A new class of artificial cornea comprising a combination of poly (2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) and poly (methyl methacrylate) was developed which was fabricated using a gas foaming technique. Referred to as the gas-foamed KPro, it was designed to permit clear vision and secure host biointegration to facilitate long-term stability of the device. In vitro assessments show cell growth into the body of the porous edge or skirt of the gas-foamed KPro. The optically transparent center (i.e., core) of the device demonstrates 85 – 90% of light transmittance in the 500 – 700 nm wavelength range. Mechanical tensile data indicates that the gas-foamed KPro is mechanically stable enough to maintain its structure in the ocular environment and also during implantation. The gas-foamed KPro may provide an alternate option for cornea replacement that minimizes post implantation tissue melting, thereby achieving long-term stability in the ocular environment.