Stem cell-coated contact lens restores vision to the partially sighted

Researchers from the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia, have come up with a revolutionary treatment for corneal disease that involves growing stem cells from the patient on a contact lens.

After 10 days, the lens is then placed into the patient's eye and the stem cells move from the lens to the eye, healing the damaged cornea and restoring sight rapidly — a vast improvement from traditional transplant methods, where the donor organ can easily be rejected by the host body.

"Unlike other techniques, it requires no foreign human or animal products, only the patient's own serum, and is completely non-invasive." - Dr. Nick Di Girolamo, technique co-developer