Prevalent eye diseases such as myopia, presbyopia, and corneal disorders affect millions of people worldwide and, in many cases, still cannot be prevented. Surgical treatment of these conditions is increasingly shifting toward additive approaches, including corneal implants and intraocular lenses that replace or supplement the natural crystalline lens, as these procedures reduce the complications associated with tissue-removal surgeries.
Current additive ophthalmic treatments include amniotic membrane bandages, corneal inlays, and intraocular lenses. However, these approaches present important limitations, including corneal haze and rejection, risk of disease transmission, limited lifespan, dependence on cryopreservation and donor tissue, and insufficient compliance of existing lens designs and biomaterials. In SILK-EYE, we have investigated biomaterials capable of meeting the demanding requirements of ophthalmic applications, including appropriate mechanical properties, transparency, biocompatibility, and versatility.
In particular, we explored silk fibroin derived from silkworms as a protein-based polymer for implantable ocular devices. SILK-EYE has developed a new generation of corneal and intraocular implants using silk-based materials tailored to each specific application and light-enabled procedure. These silk-based implants combine the accessibility advantages of synthetic materials with the structural and biocompatibility benefits of allografts, leveraging silk’s unique properties, including optical transparency, tunable stiffness and degradability, refractive index control, permeability, and potential for light-induced cross-linking and bonding within the eye.
SILK-EYE has produced radically novel corneal dressings that demonstrated full biocompatibility in both cell culture assays and in vivo animal models. These dressings incorporate growth factor release to accelerate wound healing and employ a photo-activated attachment method that eliminates the need for sutures. In addition, we developed a family of functionalized co-polymers with high silk fibroin content for use as corneal and intraocular implants, and evaluated their long-term viability in animal models. Bio-inspired accommodating intraocular lenses fabricated from novel materials were also tested using a multi-axial stretching system designed to simulate physiological forces within the eye.
Overall, SILK-EYE has delivered implants that are more biocompatible and functional than current synthetic designs, while being safer, more tunable, accessible, and affordable than donor-derived allografts. These advances have the potential to transform the major corrective procedures currently performed in ophthalmology.
