New Israeli artificial cornea implanted for first time, no donor needed

The EndoArt device, made of a biocompatible material, removes the need for human donors.

By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News

A new kind of artificial cornea invented in Israel was implanted Thursday for the first time in the country in a patient who had previously undergone three transplants from human donors without success.

The minimally invasive procedure, which takes 30 to 40 minutes, was performed at Kaplan Medical Center in Rehovot.

Professor Arie Marcovich, director of the hospital’s ophthalmology department, said that the new implant “is a genuine breakthrough offering hope to patients awaiting corneal transplants, especially those who have exhausted all other options,” such as this patient, who could not undergo another regular transplant.

It is “especially important in Israel, where waiting lists for corneal transplants can last months or even years,” he added.

Created by EyeYon Medical, a medical prosthetics company based in Ness Ziona, the delicate device, called EndoArt, is made of a sterile, biocompatible material that eliminates the danger of being rejected by the recipient’s body.

This also means the recipient will not have to take anti-rejection drugs for months or years to prevent the body’s immune system from attacking and destroying the new organ.

Inserted into the endothelial layer of the eye, the ultra-thin device prevents the transfer of excess fluids into the cornea, which reduces its transparency.

Having such fluid in the eye at first causes blurred, cloudy or distorted sight, and often a person becomes sensitive to light and feels as if there are foreign particles in the eye.

If left untreated, the swelling (edema) can lead to blisters on the cornea that can cause pain and ultimately result in permanent vision impairment.

“We are proud to … continue bringing groundbreaking innovation from Israeli science directly to the operating room,” said EyeYon Medical CEO Nahum Ferera after the procedure was completed. “This is an exciting moment for our team – to see how Israeli technology truly changes lives.”

The ramifications for millions of people going blind around the world due to the severe shortage in human donors or because they are not suitable candidates for the traditional artificial cornea, which works differently, are potentially enormous.

EndoArt’s inventor, Dr. Ofer Daphna, is a co-founder of EyeYon and holds several patents in the field of ophthalmology.

He is in charge of training surgeons on the implantation procedure, which has been performed a few hundred times in clinical trials around the world since the device’s launch in September 2023.