An eye for an eye A tooth for an eye

Dog News has a link to a fascinating story from the Singapore Straits Times:

The complex procedure, which has to be performed by both eye and dental surgeons, involves transferring to the eye the root of a tooth and part of the bone and ligament surrounding it. A canine* is used as it has a single root.

The technique was pioneered in Italy about 40 years ago, but most attempts in the first three decades failed. In the last three years though, the procedure has been improved tremendously by surgeons in Britain, who reported 100 per cent success with 16 people. Only surgeons in these two countries and Germany have attempted the procedure. Singapore could be the fourth. It is believed that Japan and India are also interested.

Professor Tan said that teeth are used in the operation because the root of a tooth and its surrounding bone are the only medium that can hold a tiny plastic cylinder and adhere it to the eye. The cylinder is inserted into the cube. It channels light to the retina and allows the person to see. The procedure is done in two stages, about two to four months apart. Each operation lasts four to eight hours and involves both eye and dental surgeons. In the first operation, a tooth and part of the jaw are taken from the patient. This is shaped into a tiny cube with a hole in the centre - a tricky procedure as it cannot be allowed to crack - and the plastic cylinder is implanted into the hole. The whole thing is buried in the person’s cheek to encourage it to grow blood vessels. A couple of months later, it is removed from the cheek and placed in the eye, from which part of the cornea, iris and lens has been removed. If successful, the sight they gain is likely to be good enough for them to get a driver’s licence, although their field of vision will be about a third of that of people with normal sight.

What a shame that so much of money is being thrown at drilling for oil on Mars instead of medical research.

* Please tell me that I’m not the only one to picture a dog’s tooth rather than a human canine?

This entry was posted on Saturday, January 24th, 2004 at 5:23 and is filed under Science. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.