I-Corps: Artificial Cornea of Microtextured Hydrogel

这个I-Corps项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是通过获得角膜上皮细胞的充分增殖和增强角膜成纤维细胞的黏附来降低人工角膜应用中术后感染和炎症的风险，以实现更快的恢复和更低的整体成本。根据世界卫生组织的数据，全球有超过1000万人患有角膜失明；由于缺乏捐赠者的组织，全球每年只有五分之一的患者接受角膜移植。目前人工角膜本身的平均成本从2000美元到5000美元不等。因此，角膜假体(KPro)是一个重要的标志物。人口老龄化和眼病发病率的增加预计将是推动全球KPro市场增长的主要因素。然而，当使用现有的KPro方法时，可能会发生严重的并发症，如感染和炎症。这种新型的微纹理PHEMA(聚(甲基丙烯酸羟乙酯)水凝胶)人工角膜将潜在地拯救数百万人的角膜失明；并将为手术后组织排斥风险较低的患者提供舒适的佩戴体验，因为KPro的机械性能与人类软组织相似。I-Corps项目进一步开发了由微纹理PHEMA(聚(甲基丙烯酸羟乙酯)水凝胶制成的新型人工角膜。研究表明，根据细胞类型的不同，调节良好的微孔或微线图案在促进细胞增殖和改善细胞黏附方面是有效的，这主要是由于细胞与表面之间的接触面积增加。PHEMA水凝胶是眼科最常用的生物材料，具有与人体组织相似的力学性能，作为植入物对人体具有良好的生物相容性。PHEMA水凝胶上的微孔纹理将允许角膜上皮快速增殖，形成一层保护层，防止眼睛受到细菌感染和炎症；同时，微孔纹理将允许角质细胞(角膜成纤维细胞)快速而强烈地粘连到水凝胶上，导致人工角膜下基质的稳定形成，以便在植入后快速恢复。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is to lower the risk of infection and inflammation post-operation in the application of artificial cornea by obtaining full proliferation of corneal epithelial cells and enhancing the corneal fibroblast adhesion, to achieve a faster recovery and lower cost overall. As stated by World Health Organization, over 10 million people suffer from corneal blindness globally; only 1/50 of the patients obtained corneal transplants each year worldwide due to lack of donors' tissue. Current average cost for an artificial cornea itself is from $2K to $5K. Thus, a significant marker exists for Keratoprosthesis (KPro). Aging populations coupled with increasing incidence of eye diseases are expected to be the prime factors driving the growth of the global KPro market. However, severe complications, such as infection and inflammation can occur when using existing KPro methods. The novel artificial cornea of microtextured pHEMA (poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) hydrogel will potentially save millions of people from corneal blindness; and will provide comfortable wearing experience for patients with less tissue rejection risk after the surgery due to the similar mechanical properties of the KPro to human soft tissues.This I-Corps project further develops a novel artificial cornea made of microtextured pHEMA (poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) hydrogel. Studies have shown that well-regulated micropore or microline patterns, depending on cell types, are effective in enhancing cell proliferation and improving cell adhesion, mainly due to the increased contact area between the cells and surfaces. pHEMA hydrogel, the most commonly-used biomaterial in ophthalmology, has similar mechanical properties to human tissues and provides good biocompatibility to the human body as implants. The micropore textures on pHEMA hydrogel will allow corneal epithelium to proliferate well and fast for forming a layer of protection to prevent the eyes from bacterial infection and inflammation; meanwhile the microline textures will allow fast and strong adhesion of keratocytes (corneal fibroblasts) to hydrogel, leading to the stable formation of stroma underneath the artificial cornea for speedy recovery after the implant.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.