From Blindness to 20/20 Vision

Cellular Bioengineering Incorporated has discovered a realistic way of allowing people to regain the most vital of all the senses, sight. The ten million blind people in the world, who are blind because of a diseased or injured cornea, can theoretically see again with this novel invention. The Honolulu based company has patented the idea for manufacturing artificial corneas and using them in eye surgeries. Founder and CEO Hank Wuh said that Cellular Bioengineering Incorporated has done pilot tests on people, ranging in age from 16 to 75, to examine the effectiveness of the artificial transplant. Currently the only cure is a transplant costing $5,000 that is retrieved from a human. With a pool of ten million people that could benefit from this procedure, the market for these artificial corneas is very lucrative and promising.
The artificial disks are similar to large, shapeless contact lenses. They are meant to replace the cornea, with the front covering of the eye being transparent in order to refract light back and enable the eye to focus. The disks allow the nerves in the eye to regenerate, which means that the eye’s natural tissues grow over the artificial material and incorporate it into the body. The people who were involved in the experimental trials were legally blind and had been waiting for transplants from human donors. After receiving the artificial transplant, the patients were able to see without any rejections to the transplant. Cellular Bioengineering Incorporated is hoping for approval on the product in the United States by 2010. The division of the company that is working on the product, Eyegenix, is working on getting it permitted with the Food and Drug Administration, by doing more trials in places that have less strict guidelines, like Canada and Europe. With this clever and life changing product, Cellular Bioengineering Incorporated has lived up to its motto, “Invent. Disrupt. Inspire.”

http://pacific.bizjournals.com/pacific/stories/2008/09/01/story2.html?b=1220241600^1692887