MEDICAL RESEARCH:SOMETIMES research and innovation can transform lives. Work by Prof Fergal O'Brien has the potential to do just that, helping to protect clear vision in patients with a particular eye disorder.
Based at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, O’Brien heads the tissue engineering research group in the department of anatomy. “The focus of the work we do is the use of collagen-based biomaterials for tissue repair in combination with stem-cell therapies,” he explains. Collagen is the main component of connective tissue and is the body’s most abundant protein. O’Brien is using it as a base material in cartilage repair and also in bone regeneration and in cardiovascular applications.
Because of this expertise, he was approached to develop a way to repair the cornea, the clear “window” of the eye. The cornea is protected by an essential outer layer of tissue called epithelial cells, and in some conditions this breaks down, something that over time can cause blindness.
The eye produces limbal stem cells to repair damage to the epithelial layer, but if there are not enough – as in limbal stem-cell deficiency disorders – vision may degrade before repairs can occur.
O’Brien’s team has developed a thin, transparent collagen scaffold and he plans to seed this with limbal stem cells and then use it as a protective cover for the cornea. “It will cover the surface of the eye and help regenerate the corneal surface,” he says.
Enterprise Ireland funds some of his research, which is near to market, and last month, he received a Technology Innovation Development Award from Science Foundation Ireland.
“I want to see these treatments coming into use and improving people’s quality of life,” he says.
– DICK AHLSTROM, Science Editor
Cool drinks gadget wins
Innovation Prize:A COOLING device for drinks that can be integrated into the top of a bar counter has won Cork Institute of Technology's (CIT) prize for Innovation. The group behind the gadget includes students from CIT's biomedical and manufacturing engineering, mechanical engineering and business studies courses. The Most Innovative Award went to the group behind a muscle-stress indicator, which provides real- time analysis that correlates the relationship between a muscle that is under stress and the resulting heat that is generated. The award for best business Plan was awarded to Pyra Aid, a wheelchair attachment which negotiates kerbs and footpaths.
