![]() ![]() ![]() His plans worked well enough to inspire other doctors to try the technique. So he began exploring the idea of extracting a tooth and integrating it with a lens, and then implanting the entire contraption into a blind eye, essentially creating an artificial window. Strampelli thought that perhaps most suitable building block would be a hard substance made to last in a warm, mucous-filled environment like the eye.Ī tooth, he thought, might be the perfect candidate. That meant first locating an appropriate foundation for a lens. One of the biggest challenges was finding a way to create a long-term bond between living tissue and the plastic lens. ![]() The resulting structure would be strong, scratch-resistant and made up of your own DNA, lowering the possibility of rejection. The solution, he thought, was to embed a see-through, plastic cylinder into the body's own tissues. He also knew that a simple plastic lens typically wouldn't do the trick because the body often rejects foreign objects, making synthetic replacements difficult or impossible. He knew that damaged eyes don't produce enough tears to support a new cornea, leaving the tissue rough, dry and with an almost skinlike texture. Keep reading and you'll see (perhaps using a tooth-laced eye) how doctors perform this miraculous mix of dentistry and ophthalmology. #AN EYE FOR AN EYE AND A TOOTH FOR A TOOTH ZIP#That's when a surgeon may chop a tooth from your mouth, suture it into your cheek, and then dig it back out a few months later so she can subsequently zip it into your eyeball. In those cases, both patients and doctors may become desperate for a way to fix the eye. These kinds of events may permanently damage the eye's ability to heal itself or to produce the tears that are necessary for supporting a corneal transplant. Or you may have a disorder such as Stevens-Johnson syndrome, which can occur due to an infection or reaction to medication that causes a painful and debilitating rash. Sometimes, damage to the eye is too severe, perhaps because of a chemical or thermal burn. Unfortunately, not every person is a candidate for a transplant. This is a common procedure, with more than 40,000 completed every year in the U.S. In that kind of unfortunate situation, ideally your doctor would perform a corneal transplant operation, replacing your non-working cornea with a better one from an organ donor. If it becomes cloudy or scarred, your eyesight may deteriorate or you many go completely blind. It's a transparent coating that remains pliable and durable thanks to the tears that keep it moist and crystal clear, providing roughly three-quarters of your eye's focusing power. The cornea of the eye is the topmost layer that protects your eyeball from the outside world. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |