Dr. Price is the first surgeon in Indiana to be accredited to implant the AIphaCor cornea, the first internationally approved artificial cornea implant. The device provides a viable alternative to patients who reject human cornea tissue transplants and have no other options to improve or regain vision.
Dr. Francis Price Jr. asks a colleague about the position of the AlphaCor cornea he implanted Wednesday in the eye of Dale Grigsby, 84, at St. Vincent Indianapolis Hospital.
The AIphaCor Artificial Cornea, developed at the Lions Eye Institute in Perth, Australia, is designed to replace a diseased or damaged cornea or failed human transplant. Its dimensions, flexibility and optics allow it to be implanted, and to perform, in a similar manner to a donor corneal graft."AIphaCor is made of a biocompatible polymer which precludes the need for the immunosupressant therapies usually required with human donor tissue," said Dr. Price. "The artificial cornea looks like a clear donor corneal graft with a visible spongy rim. The patient's own cells grow into this outer rim and hold it in place, allowing the eye to function normally. !t is soft and flexible."
There are up to 10 million people suffering corneal blindness in the world. Only an estimated 100,000 corneal transplants are performed each year worldwide due to the lack of access to donor tissue, which has been described as an international public health crisis. For more than 200 years, scientists have attempted to make an artificial cornea. Corneal blindness can be caused by accidents or diseases damaging the front of the eye. When the rest of the eye functions fully, the replacement of the cornea is all that is needed to restore sight.
"One of the benefits of the artificial cornea is that patients no longer have to rely on a regimen of drugs taken over the course of their lives," said Dr. Price. "The success rate of corneal transplants has increased markedly over the last 40 years, but there are some situations where cornea transplants just don't work. AIphaCor fills this void. The device is a huge step forward for people with corneal blindness who have rejected human tissue or who live in areas where corneal tissue is not readily available. In addition, the artificial cornea only requires one eye drop medication taken daily post-surgery."
Traduction rapide:
Le 24 mars 2004, la premiere cornee artificielle a ete implantee chez un homme de 85 ans en Indianna aux USA.
Apparement, cette cornee artificielle convient pour les personnes qui font des rejets avec des cornees de donneurs decedes. Cette nouvelle cornee artificielle ne requiert donc pas de medicaments anti-rejet.
Les cellules du patient de 85 ans ont enveloppees la cornee artificielle et ont permis a l´oeil de fonctionner normalement.
Cette cornee a ete cree en Australie.
Voici le site: http://www.cornea.org/s_artcornea.html
Nous ne sommes pas abandonnés par la recherche. 
