[HN Gopher] Patient Regains Sight Following Artificial Cornea Im...
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Patient Regains Sight Following Artificial Cornea Implantation
Author : muskminion
Score : 377 points
Date : 2021-01-18 13:10 UTC (9 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (www.prnewswire.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.prnewswire.com)
| unix_fan wrote:
| In my opinion, the problem with technology that can help the
| blind see is the lack of a profit incentive, which means you can
| only buy from a few established players and no innovation is
| encouraged, while prices remain astronomical. As it stands, I
| already pay a lot more for products I need, especially since I
| don't have any government assistance. It's what I like to call
| the "blind tax". not everyone can afford to pay it. As such, it's
| better to wait for general consumer devices with accessibility
| features like the iPhone, which is far more affordable than a
| braille note taker, for example. The potential market that could
| afford something like this, is pretty small.
|
| I hope technology like this eventually becomes available for
| those of us living in developing countries.
| User23 wrote:
| A good example of this is the absolutely exorbitant prices
| charged for low vision CCTVs and similar equipment. I assume
| this is because the sellers are mainly targeting state aid
| agencies so they can get those juicy tax funds.
| dbcurtis wrote:
| I suspect it is more just volume and support costs. There
| really isn't much government financial support at all for the
| vision impaired, outside of the Veteran's Administration
| system.
|
| A friend and I looked at doing a tech product for the vision
| impaired. The business case just didn't pencil out, mainly
| because of TAM.
| ROARosen wrote:
| I didn't see anything about pricing, are you referring to this
| specific item or in general?
| zdragnar wrote:
| Not op, but it is true in general.
|
| The challenge is volume; with a small market, there isn't
| much motivation to struggle to stay in business selling at
| low margins. Also, since these may be considered
| accessibility devices but not medical devices, insurance May
| not cover a lot of things that ought to be considered
| essential.
| markvdb wrote:
| The profit motive is everywhere in the medical sector, and
| that is a bad thing. Even if you believe in free markets,
| it's not easy to get the best care.
|
| To stay cose to the eye as a subject, look at vitreomacular
| adhesion. Roughly two possible treatments: - costly and
| complicated eye surgery - substantially simpler ocriplasmin
| [0] injections
|
| In many cases where ocriplasmin looks like it could be the
| perfect solution, it isn't even considered. Could that have
| something to do with the surgeon's incentives alignment?
|
| [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ocriplasmin
| ghufran_syed wrote:
| An analogous problem in drugs seems to have been
| effectively addressed by the Orphan Drug act
| (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orphan_Drug_Act_of_1983)
|
| Sounds like maybe there needs to be something similar for
| medical devices?
| salawat wrote:
| This is the issue with most small population medical
| research, or research that's worthwhile but by policy
| difficult to commercialize.
|
| "Sucks to be you" tends to be every non-sufferer's
| response.
| mschuster91 wrote:
| > It's what I like to call the "blind tax". not everyone can
| afford to pay it.
|
| The other thing is that devices sold as "medical devices",
| unlike "general consumer devices" have (for good reasons)
| pretty strict regulatory schemes across the world, which means
| that their development and maintenance costs _a lot_ more
| money.
| ausbah wrote:
| the related term with drug development is "orphan drug". drugs
| designed to treat rare medical conditions that are not
| developed due to lack of profit incentive
| tomglynch wrote:
| The astroturfing in this thread is INSANE!!! Awesome. Inspiring.
| TaupeRanger wrote:
| Wait what? How do you come to that conclusion?
| dang wrote:
| There were a bunch of comments in this thread (now killed, so
| you'd have to switch 'showdead' to 'yes' in your pforile to
| see them) which looked suspiciously promotional and similar
| to one another.
| bambam24 wrote:
| I'm keratakonus patient who needs such surgery as well, to
| clarify there is also cornea transplant operations too. Which is
| from a donor. But that surgery requires 6-12month healing time,
| because it have many stiches
| EvanAnderson wrote:
| Keratoconus sufferer here. This looks really cool. I'm probably
| not going to _need_ a corneal transplant at this point (since my
| condition appears to have stabilized with age) but I 'm
| definitely going to follow this. Even with correction the acuity
| in one of my eyes is very bad (like, can't read 16 point font at
| arm's length bad). Since this method takes the tissue rejection
| concern out of the equation I wonder if an "elective" corneal
| transplant might be an option down the road.
| interestica wrote:
| Also a Keratoconus sufferer. And it also looks like the
| progression has at least stabilized with age (which makes
| treatments like CXL kinda useless). What are you using for
| correction? I ask because my _bad_ eye (which can 't get close
| to correction with glasses) now gets _better_ than 20 /20
| vision with hybrid lenses. And my _good_ eye can 't get the
| same acuity! It's an interesting sphere of research (so much is
| still unknown, and there are so many changes in the material
| science aspects of it). I got by for a long time with
| "extended-range" toric soft lenses and have very different
| experiences depending on the material type. (For instance,
| Frequency 55 XR was made with 'Methafilcon B' 'High Water
| Ionic' and I had 'unexpectedly good vision' with them.)
|
| Oh, contact lens material is a rabbit hole:
|
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_soft_contact_lens_mate...
| EvanAnderson wrote:
| I'm really pretty lucky. I can get by only using spectacles.
| My prescription isn't really too bad. I can get acceptable
| correction in my good eye and still have passable 3D vision
| with correction in my bad eye. On that basis I've opted to
| stay w/ spectacles. (I can get markedly better correction for
| my bad eye with some more axial tilt. I tend to easily lose
| convergence with that additional tilt and get massive
| headaches, however.)
|
| I tried soft contact lenses, prior to my keratoconus
| diagnosis, when I was much younger. The foreign body
| sensation simply would not go away. It was a massive
| distraction, to the point that I couldn't really think about
| much else. Then I start fidgeting with my eyes and end up
| with swelling and tears. (Hard, balled-up fist eye rubbing
| from severe childhood allergies is probably the root cause of
| my keratoconus. The animal allergies are mostly gone now, and
| the hay fever is only a mild irritation. I can still,
| however, induce foreign body sensation and massive itchiness
| just by touching the skin around my eyes. There's probably a
| bit of obsessive compulsive disorder going on there.)
| robin_reala wrote:
| Honestly, I think CXL then laser surgery is probably a
| preferable treatment to corneal transplants. You're looking at
| 6 month recovery time for that.
| slhck wrote:
| Post-CXL laser surgery is not always possible. If the
| cornea's thickness has already degraded too much, lasering
| would be very risky and lead to tearing.
| interestica wrote:
| CXL isn't useful at all since his vision has stabilized. CXL
| only halts the progression of the disease.
| EvanAnderson wrote:
| That's the assumption I've been led to believe by my doctor
| as well. Doing some searching does show that there's been
| some discussion of refractive surgery post-CXL, but I can't
| imagine that putting any more stress on my baggy, distended
| corneas would be a great idea. >smile<
|
| I'm a little bummed I missed the possibility of CXL. I was
| diagnosed with KC in 2004, at age 27. I saw a couple
| specialists at the time, one of whom mentioned trials (in
| the US, where I am) for a procedure to strengthen and
| stabilize the cornea using UV light and riboflavin. He felt
| it was too new and unproven to recommend I explore it.
| robin_reala wrote:
| I was offered the CXL / laser surgery combo by my
| opthamologist (UK) 6 or 7 years ago, but decided to do
| neither. Like you, my diagnosis has stabilised with age
| (first diagnosed 1994) and I don't want to potentially
| disturb it.
| zerop wrote:
| Why this small sized country has been so innovating so much? I
| heard about them a lot.
| fastball wrote:
| Probably for the same reason that despite persecution all over
| the world, Jewish people have generally been fairly successful
| - good work ethic + strong sense of community + cooperation
| within that community.
|
| Or it's because they really are Yahweh's chosen people. That
| would probably help things along.
|
| I've leave it as an exercise for the reader to decide which is
| more likely.
| madspindel wrote:
| > The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy
| are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good
| news is proclaimed to the poor.
|
| Love reading news like this!
| sam_goody wrote:
| Awesome. Moving. Inspiring.
|
| There are all sorts of headlines about one technology or another
| that seems to never get beyond the lab.
|
| How long have we been waiting for some way to regrow the tooth
| after a cavity?
|
| But then suddenly there is something like this. A PATIENT
| ACTUALLY REGAINED SIGHT after years of total blindness.
|
| That cannot be said with enough awe to do it justice. It brings
| new faith to those at the forefront of medicine.
|
| Anyways, for the docs in this and every other groundbreaking
| attempt.... Thanks! No, really, Thank you with all my heart!
| joaomacp wrote:
| It's really amazing. I don't want to be the usual cynic HNer
| talking stuff down, because this seems really groundbreaking.
|
| However, corneal transplants are already a thing, and "Within
| the United States, the supply of corneas is sufficient to meet
| the demand for surgery and research purposes."
|
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corneal_transplantation
|
| Of course a synthetic cornea seems like a more scalable
| solution, and probably reduces costs in the long term, so this
| is great progress.
| throwaway4220 wrote:
| I echo this sentiment. Here are the eligibility criteria:
| https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04485858. I am not an
| opthalmologist, however, it appears this is an option when a
| transplant fails or is not indicated due to infection. It's
| still excellent news!
|
| Here's a good info page on corneal blindness
| https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2823104/ warning
| made me a bit queasy
| waihtis wrote:
| You're not being cynical, this is exactly what one should
| expect in HN - combing through the deeper facts and not just
| the superficial information.
| Cthulhu_ wrote:
| One thing that honestly puts me off of some HN threads is
| the breathless "it's full of stars" comments where people
| take one press release and their minds go to some near-
| future utopia where everything is perfect and nothing
| hurts.
| voiprodrigo wrote:
| It is true that corneal transplantation is a thing since
| decades. However, a corneal transplant, like any transplant,
| has its issues. Rejections can still occur, and the healing
| process takes a long time, usually not less than one year,
| involving constant adjustments. If a cost-effective synthetic
| inert material addresses these issues, this is immense
| progress.
| gus_massa wrote:
| But the GGP says
|
| >>> _How long have we been waiting for some way to regrow
| the tooth after a cavity?_
|
| An artificial cornea probably solves a lot of problem with
| rejections, but it is somewhat like filing the cavities in
| the teeth with whatever paste they are using.
| blincoln wrote:
| I've read about people getting cataract surgery and ending
| up with UV sensitivity due to the material some older
| synthetic implants were made from, so I always assumed
| artificial corneas weren't uncommon.[1] I've actually kind
| of hoped I could get them some day.
|
| Is the difference here that previous implants weren't total
| replacements, or something else?
|
| [1] e.g. https://www.komar.org/faq/colorado-cataract-
| surgery-crystale...
| zelphirkalt wrote:
| Bloody marvelous!
| melling wrote:
| Yeah, regrowing teeth has been in the news for decades.
|
| Treating cataracts with eye drops is one I noticed a few years
| ago.
|
| https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2015/07/eye-drops-could-diss...
|
| I was surprised to find these start forming after age 40.
|
| It's great when a little science fiction finally works.
| silentsea90 wrote:
| If I had helped get this built, I would die a happy man. Congrats
| to all involved. This is inspiring!
| gus_massa wrote:
| From this article [1], there are (at least) other three
| business building similar things. Perhaps you can apply to work
| in any of them.
|
| [1] https://eyewiki.aao.org/Boston_Keratoprosthesis_(KPro)
|
| > _In recent decades multiple synthetic corneas have been
| pioneered and developed, though only three are principally used
| in practice: the Boston Keratoprosthesis (Massachusetts Eye &
| Ear Infirmary, Boston, MA), the AlphaCor (Addition Technology
| Inc., Des Plaines, IL) and the osteo-odonto keratoprosthesis
| also known as the 'OOKP' (originally described by Strampelli,
| modified by Falcinelli)._
| gdebel wrote:
| Corneal surgeon here ! (Note : I never implanted a
| keratoprosthesis. This is an extremely unfrequent procedure,
| usually performed by a handful of surgeons in a given country).
| Some insights about this topic. This looks like a great device
| (never heard before !). This is a keratoprosthesis, meaning this
| is a last recourse, "no-hope-except-maybe-that", procedure.
| However it looks infinitely more simple and respectful of the eye
| integrity than current keratoprosthesis, and, if it really acts
| like a scaffold for native corneal cells and allows a
| colonization and the obtention of a satisfying corneal surface,
| it could be a game changer. It is way too soon to know.
|
| A significant percentage (I would say around 40-70%, depending on
| the country) of corneal graft indications originates from
| pathologies coming from the inner layer of the cornea (corneal
| endothelium). Posterior lamellar graft (DMEK) allows today to
| change only the thin cellular layer which is pathological, with
| an usually quick recovery. Even the best performing
| keratoprosthesis won't replace this procedure, because we care to
| preserve the eye's integrity as much as we can.
|
| It is interesting to remember that corneal transplantation is a
| very special topic because the cornea is not vascularized,
| meaning less rejection. There still is, of course, but the
| outcomes as usually good. Keratoprosthesis are today indicated
| when previous grafts where rejected, when the other structures of
| the eye are healthy, and when the vision is extremely low. This
| allows to gain a few years of very low vision before, usually,
| losing the eye due to infection or high ocular pressure.
|
| The technology presented has the potential: - to replace current
| keratoprosthesis and lower the threshold to decide to perform the
| procedure : yes, almost sure if the device is well-tolerated - to
| replace perforating keratoplasty (full corneal replacement,
| unfrequent today) where the cornea is damaged in its entirety:
| maybe, highly uncertain for the moment. That would be an
| incredible step forward, a revolution in our practice. - to
| replace anterior lamellar keratoplasty, where the anterior wall
| of the cornea is replaced : highly unlikely - to replace
| posterior lamellar keratoplasty, where the cornea lacks
| transparency because of inner layer cellular dysfunction: almost
| impossible.
|
| I would also like to raise awareness on the topic of eye rubbing.
| The eye surgeon community progressively discovers the highly
| harmful consequences of vigorous and daily eye rubbing. A few
| teams (mine, notably) even think that it is the single trigger
| for keratoconus. You will find a nice illustrations of what a
| rubbed eye looks like in MRI I by googling "don't rub your eye"
| (this is me in the MRI ;-) and more explanations here :
| https://defeatkeratoconus.com/
| loceng wrote:
| I'm curious if you're familiar with the stromal stem cell
| research for regenerating deeper corneal tissues?
|
| Research from University of Pittsburgh, successful on mice/rat
| models, was taken to India for human clinical trials with
| pretty great success healing severe chemical burns and scarring
| to the cornea. Here's video of them talking about their effort
| to get it FDA approved (will take 5 years), I linked it to
| where it shows the before and after results:
| https://youtu.be/q_obgXSeLaU?t=1586
| kak9 wrote:
| This is really fantastic reply and context. Thanks for posting
| this!
|
| When you see research like this, assuming all things trend
| positive (big if of course) what is the timeframe one expects
| to see it make its way to mainstream application?
| mkl wrote:
| I would like to second the eye rubbing awareness. I have
| keratoconus in both eyes, and had two (donor) corneal
| transplants in the 1990s, in my teens. Even with them, my sight
| is not great, as the distortions from the transplant scarring
| and residual keratoconus around the edges are only partially
| correctable with regular glasses lenses (I think these
| artificial corneas would not be better). I had bad hayfever as
| a kid (and still do sometimes now) and rubbed my eyes a lot. I
| now think it's the most likely cause.
|
| Don't let your kids rub their eyes!
| EvanAnderson wrote:
| I am in a similar boat-- fairly bad animal allergies and hay
| fever as a child accompanied with frequent and vigorous eye
| rubbing and now keratoconus (though, fortunately, not so far-
| progressed as to need corneal transplants).
|
| My daughter has the same characteristic long eyelashes that I
| do, and exhibits allergies (though much less severe than
| mine). My wife and I have made a very strong effort to
| prevent her from eye-rubbing. She's old enough now to
| understand why we were so adamant about it.
|
| I'm seeing elsewhere in this thread that nocturnal eye
| rubbing can be a problem. I never thought about that and it's
| a bit disturbing. I do remember waking-up with my eyes
| plastered shut with hardened mucus as a child.
| Aerroon wrote:
| Interesting! How much eye rubbing are we talking about? Several
| times a day? Once a day? Once a week? Any tips on stopping the
| habit?
| gdebel wrote:
| To start with, full disclosure : this is a controversial
| topic. The majority of eye surgeons are still convinced that
| there is a genetic predisposition to keratoconus, and that
| eye rubbing is an optional trigger. Other (a growing number)
| think that this is the sole responsible of keratoconus.
|
| My mentor is the main proponent of the eye rubbing theory. I
| was a skeptic, and became convinced by learning with him how
| to properly interview patients on this subject, how to
| prevent eye rubbing, and by seeing the absence of progression
| after full awareness of the patients (without cross-linking.
| We don't do any CXL in my department, ever. KC screening and
| care is one of our main activity: not doing CXL is a
| financial loss). My mentor's website :
| https://www.gatinel.com/recherche-
| formation/keratocone-2/no-... (No conflict of interest except
| loyalty).
|
| The main difficulty is that it is almost impossible to design
| an experiment to prove the theory (if someone has a genius
| idea, please don't hesitate). Usually other surgeons or
| students become convinced after visiting the department and
| spread the good practices back home : still a long way to go.
|
| The harmful eye rubbing is made with the hard parts of the
| hand (knuckles). It is frequently nocturnal and almost
| everytime ignored. Awareness comes when the patient has been
| informed and told to look for this habit. At the second
| consultation, the eye rubbing is reported in the vast
| majority of cases. I count the keratoconus patients that deny
| eye rubbing after 2-3 consultations on one hand. We prescribe
| a transparent eye shell to sleep with when the patient denies
| eye rubbing : it allows them to realize that they rub during
| the night. We prescribe eye drops to ease the eye irritation
| which triggers rubbing, and instruct to rub the inner part of
| the eyelid, against the nose (no eye deformation) if
| necessary. Sleep position is frequently pathological too (eye
| vs hand or arm contact. In those cases the KC is very
| asymetrical).
|
| Doctors in our team can predict the eye rubbing habit
| frequency and intensity by looking at a corneal topography.
| It is incredible that the role of this habit was ignored so
| long. I suppose that we doctors don't talk enough with our
| patients. The financial incentive of performing CXL and
| surgeries is so clearly detrimental the the adoption of those
| practices.
| keratothrowaway wrote:
| Hi, I am really interested in reading this conversation, as
| I have keratoconus and had CXL surgery about ten years ago,
| and am very happy with it. The CXL stopped the keratoconus
| progressing and I only need to wear glasses instead of the
| more invasive things other patients mention (contact
| lenses, corneal grafts and transplants, etc).
|
| It would be good if this intervention to convince patients
| to cease eye rubbing was more common in keratoconus
| patients. There is often a delay of several months between
| when keratoconus is suspected or diagnosed and CXL is
| carried out (in my case I had to wait 6 months in one eye
| and 9 months in the other, during which time it got a bit
| worse).
|
| About eye rubbing, yes there should be more awareness of
| it! In practical terms, I would recommend that everyone
| tries wearing an eye-mask when they're asleep (I recently
| bought this one, and I'm happy with it
| https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07DW32QYJ ). This is
| because it's more difficult to notice and prevent yourself
| from rubbing your eyes when you're half-asleep.
|
| There are several reasons why I like wearing an eye mask
| while in bed, and some even apply to people who don't have
| keratoconus: 1. It stops me rubbing my eyes when I'm in
| bed. 1. It might stop allergens getting into my eyes when
| I'm asleep, for example I notice much less rheum on my eyes
| when I wake up in the morning. When I'm in bed is when I
| notice that my allergies are worst. 3. It helps me sleep
| better, it's like having blackout curtains in my room. 4.
| If I want to get up in the middle of the night, I will be
| able to see better in the dark.
| Mauricebranagh wrote:
| Realy interesting I have badly scared cornea from Sarcoidosis in
| one eye - I wonder if this would work for me
| airstrike wrote:
| Amazing. In 25 years, this may be a packaged as a mod.
|
| Paging The Expanse fans...
| BLanen wrote:
| No
| flixic wrote:
| Or they can rebrand as Kiroshi Optics.
| schmorptron wrote:
| That is INSANE! I really hope this is true and becomes viable for
| as many people as possible as fast as possible. The team that
| created this can really be proud.
| nazbuck wrote:
| https://www.israelhayom.com/2021/01/12/blind-man-sees-again-...
|
| Imsraeli startup gives blind man sight with "artificial" corneas.
| In other news a sharp increase in Palestinian children losing
| their eyes
| muggermuch wrote:
| I'm guessing all technological advances performed by US tech
| companies are post-fixed with information about starving Yemeni
| children whose parents were bombed out of existence. /s
|
| Sometimes one can appreciate tech advances without apportioning
| blame for other societal ills at the doorsteps of folks who are
| focused on making lives better for all.
|
| PS: I'm not Israeli/Palestinian. I don't have a dog in this
| fight, just came here to appreciate the news.
| gkfasdfasdf wrote:
| The US has not been occupying Yemen for the last 50+ years or
| completely encircling their borders to create an open air
| prison. Please, educate yourself on the conflict!
| DSingularity wrote:
| Do you know what doesn't increase the pressure on a brutal
| occupation whose operations wreck the livelihoods of
| thousands of Palestinians daily? That's right, not bringing
| up the Israeli occupation whenever possible.
|
| We bring hope to the Palestinians when we don't ignore their
| suffering.
| gkfasdfasdf wrote:
| Like how Israel is leading the world in vaccinations per
| capita! As long as the you exclude the Palestinian population
| that is...
| DSingularity wrote:
| And now we arrive to the beauty of the two state solution for
| Israel. The Palestinians stay subjugated in practice but in
| the eyes of the law they are an independent state.
|
| But what else do you expect from an occupation which counts
| the calories of the Gazans to make sure they only import what
| is needed to survive?
| gadders wrote:
| The Palestinians refused assistance from Israel. Instead they
| asked WHO to help. They have only recently requested vaccines
| from Israel: https://www.jpost.com/arab-israeli-
| conflict/palestinians-acc...
| newbie578 wrote:
| Wow, simply amazing, love to read articles like this. Also, I
| keep being amazed at the amount of innovation and startups that
| keep coming from Israel. There should be dozens of case studies
| made and books written about what they are doing.
|
| If someone already knows some books about it, please do
| recommend.
| widespace wrote:
| You're bombarded with so much negative news on a daily basis that
| it's nice to read something this inspiring!
| edumucelli wrote:
| One thing that surprised me is how the whole product comes in a
| "kit" with instructions and tools. I never thought on those
| medical devices as something that would come as a lego brick,
| mainly something that has a huge potential as this. I thought
| that to perform this kind of operation a ton of material was
| necessary.
| roveo wrote:
| Tooth implants also come as "kits".
| BLanen wrote:
| That's actually not that uncommon.
| magicpin wrote:
| Often times when a surgeon is using a product for the first
| time, a representative from the medical device manufacture will
| watch the surgery and provide guidance with a laser pointer.
| wittyreference wrote:
| Most medical stuff comes as kits. In no small part because each
| individual manufacturer tends to have their own process for the
| details - it's not as interchangeable as you'd think. In part I
| think it's a liability thing.
|
| It also helps _a lot_ with sterility.
| bluetwo wrote:
| All the fancy bone reconstruction plates come in kits like this
| with step-by-step instruction manuals.
| interestica wrote:
| Okay this is very cool. Artificial or 3D-Printed corneas seem
| like such an obvious target for development.
|
| > "Unveiling this first implanted eye and being in that room, in
| that moment, was surreal."
|
| Still nowhere close to an 'implanted eye'...And I don't like that
| that sentence is being picked up.
|
| The 'install' kit is very interesting. Install Animation:
| https://www.corneat.com/kpro-animation
|
| Pitch/Deck: https://resiconference.com/digital-resi-
| january-2021-agenda/...
| [deleted]
| _0ffh wrote:
| Given that cornea transplants are routine operations, why was
| that man left blind for so long? Where there any medical factors
| precluding the use of a donor organ?
|
| Don't get me wrong, this is fantastic news, but something
| essential has been left out of this article.
| tyingq wrote:
| From a different article:
|
| _" He had four donor transplants to try to restore his vision,
| but all failed."_
|
| https://www.israel21c.org/jamal-can-see-again-thanks-to-new-...
| _0ffh wrote:
| Thanks, that sure clears things up!
| tyingq wrote:
| I see what you did there :)
| wccrawford wrote:
| Maybe he couldn't afford the operation and the company gave it
| to him because they needed to try it out?
|
| I don't think that there has to be anything exceptional going
| on here just because he was blind for 10 years at 78 years old.
| _0ffh wrote:
| Well that's true, or maybe he was down-prioritized for donor
| organs due to his age. I've got a friend who isn't allowed to
| drive a car because of bad corneas. He also got repeatedly
| rejected when trying to apply for a donor organ, because he
| is still far from blind, so his inability to drive is
| classified as a comparatively mild inconvenience. I'd just
| have thought that someone who actually _is_ effectively blind
| would be able to get one. I 'm sure my friend will be
| thrilled to hear about this development, he's been waiting
| for something like this for years, nay decades! When
| production ramps up he might finally be able to get his full
| eyesight back!
| UI_at_80x24 wrote:
| I am a recipient of a dual cornea transplant because of a
| condition called: Fuch's Cornea Dystrophy.
|
| In 5-20 years I'll need it again.
|
| I'm not in as bad of shape as the person in TFA. I'm damn lucky,
| but to be honest, I'm miserable. I remember what it was like to
| have lazer-sharp vision. Now I can't work with electronics
| anymore. My soldering iron is gathering dust. I can't do 30% of
| my job. Hell I have to assemble PC's by feel. I can't see the
| writing on jumper connections, and spend a lot of time taking a
| picture of a thing and then magnifying the image just trying to
| figure out what goes where.
|
| It's a shame I am not a mechanic, bolts are much bigger then
| jumpers. Working by feel is a fucking bitch.
| wiiittttt wrote:
| I'm sorry to hear that. My sister has Fuch's Dystrophy as well
| and also had a double cornea transplant, but it seems to have
| mostly fixed all of her vision issues. Time will tell if I'm in
| the same boat, but so far have no signs of it.
| gdebel wrote:
| I sympathize. I don't know what kind of procedure you
| underwent. If the blurry vision comes form an irregular
| anterior corneal surface, scleral lenses can be a game-changer.
| Also, cellular therapy could be an option in a few years,
| you're not condemned to another surgery with a little bit of
| luck. Don't hesitate to write me if you need an informal,
| general advice.
| spitfire wrote:
| What is your contact information?
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