A 78-year-old legally blind Israeli man has reportedly regained his eyesight after an artificial cornea transplant – the first time such a procedure has ever been successful.
Jamal Furani from Haifa was able to read text and recognize family members after receiving the CorNeat Vision biomimetic implant during the less than an hour surgery last month, the Times of Israel reported.
“It was unreal to reveal this first implanted eye and be in that room,” said the company’s co-founder, Dr. Gilad Litvin, to the newspaper.
“It was exciting and emotionally moving to see a fellow human being regain sight the next day,” Litvin said. “There were many tears in the room.”
The artificial cornea, made of a synthetic, non-degradable porous material, fits into the eye wall to replace scars or deformed corneas.
Once implanted, the material integrates with living tissue by stimulating “cell proliferation” in the eye, thanks in part to nanoscale chemical engineering, the company said.
After his bandage was removed, Furani saw the light, the company said in a Jan. 11 statement.
“The surgical procedure was straightforward and the result exceeded all our expectations,” said Professor Irit Bahar, who performed the implant surgery, in the statement.
Furani suffered from eye edema and other illnesses that left him legally blind for about a decade, the outlet said.
Furani was one of 10 patients approved for the experimental procedure at Rabin Medical Center, and two more locations will open in Canada this month.
Other sites in the US, France and the Netherlands are awaiting approval.