Two Ophthalmologists at Addenbrooke’s Hospital have won a prestigious prize for devising a unique piece of equipment that will transform corneal transplant surgery and lead to faster recovery of vision.
Professor Roger Buckley and Mr Madhavan Rajan have been awarded first prize in the Medical Technology category of the Spotlight Competition organised by Health Enterprise East (HEE), the NHS regional partner organisation.
Winning Entry
The prize winning idea is a small environmental chamber for the preparation of donor tissue used in corneal transplant surgery which will mean a simpler and quicker operation on patients with age-related corneal disease, leading to more effective treatment and faster recovery of vision.
Modern corneal transplant surgery focuses on replacing just the layers that are diseased, rather than the whole cornea. For transplantation of the innermost layers it is important that the donor tissue is very thin and this cannot currently be assured in the conditions normally encountered in operating theatres. The proposed environmental chamber, roughly the size of a microwave oven, will allow donor material to be prepared under controlled conditions. Corneal thickness can be measured within the chamber and sterility can be maintained.
The winners were presented with a specially engraved trophy and a cheque for £2000 to be spent on developing the chamber by Robert Donald, Innovation Manager for Medical Technology. Initial development work will be carried out by the inventors at Anglia Ruskin University’s Vision & Eye Research Unit (VERU) where both hold senior research posts.
Professor Buckley said: “To be able to create predictably thin donor discs is the aim of every surgeon carrying out a procedure called Descemet's Stripping Automated Endothelial Keratoplasty (DSAEK) which is revolutionising the management of age-related corneal visual impairment in our ageing society. The chamber will enable this to happen. The operation, carried out under local anaesthetic, is simpler and quicker than conventional corneal translation. Vision is restored much earlier – typically in six weeks rather than a year or more – and inpatient stays can be shorter and outpatient visits fewer with corresponding reductions in healthcare costs.
“These elderly patients are also less likely to suffer the problems caused by immobilisation in hospital and can return to their normal lives more quickly. Restoration of vision has been shown to reduce the incidence of accidental falls with the danger of hip fracture necessitating hospital treatment.”
A hundred patients per year might benefit from the innovation at Addenbrooke’s Hospital alone.