Temporary synthetic carrier for corneal tissue insertion and tissue delivery
AssigneeCornell University
InventorsChristopher Sales, David Putnam
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The present solution can temporarily impart the handling characteristics of corneal stroma to the otherwise very thin, flimsy, coiling, and fragile Descemet membrane endothelial keratoplasty (DMEK) tissue during its insertion into the anterior chamber and positioning in apposition against the cornea of the recipient eye. The device of the present solution can be configured in a number of ways. In a first configuration, a scaffold can be coupled with the endothelial side of the DMEK graft. In a second configuration, the scaffold can be coupled with the stromal side of the DMEK graft. In a third configuration, one or more scaffolds can be coupled with both the endothelial and stromal side of the DMEK graft.
Claims19
An endothelial keratoplasty device comprising:
- a Descemet membrane endothelial tissue layer;
- and
- a synthetic scaffold adhered to the Descemet membrane endothelial tissue layer to reduce spontaneous scrolling of the Descemet membrane endothelial tissue layer in an aqueous environment;
- wherein the synthetic scaffold comprises at least two layers, wherein the synthetic scaffold comprises a first layer comprising at least 50% carboxymethylcellulose (CMC), polyethylene glycol (PEG), and/or hyaluronic acid (HA), and a second layer comprising at least 50% HA.
An endothelial keratoplasty device comprising:
- a Descemet membrane endothelial keratoplasty (DMEK) tissue layer;
- and
- a temporary synthetic stromal scaffold (SSS) coupled to the DMEK tissue layer, wherein the DMEK tissue layer and the SSS have a combined thickness that is no greater than 150 microns;
- wherein the synthetic scaffold comprises a first layer comprising at least 50% carboxymethylcellulose (CMC), polyethylene glycol (PEG), and/or hyaluronic acid (HA), and a second layer comprising at least 50% HA.
A method of performing Descemet Membrane Endothelial Keratoplasty (DMEK) on a cornea of an eye of a subject using an endothelial keratoplasty device, the endothelial keratoplasty device comprising:
- a Descemet membrane endothelial tissue layer;
- and
- a synthetic scaffold adhered to the Descemet membrane endothelial tissue layer to reduce spontaneous scrolling of the Descemet membrane endothelial tissue layer in an aqueous environment, wherein the synthetic scaffold comprises a first layer comprising at least 50% carboxymethylcellulose (CMC), polyethylene glycol (PEG), and/or hyaluronic acid (HA), and a second layer comprising at least 50% HA.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.