A London patient will become the first in the world on Thursday to have a 3D-printed prosthetic eye implanted, the hospital in the British capital that carries out the operation reported.
Steve Verze "will be the first person in the world to receive a 3D printed eye created entirely digitally"the Moorfields Biomedical Research Center said in a statement.
The use of 3D printing should cut the prosthesis manufacturing process in half, which currently takes six weeks, the hospital said.
"I need a prosthesis since I was 20 years old, and I have always felt self-conscious about it"explained Varze, a quarantined London engineer.
"When I leave home, I often look in the mirror and I don’t like what I see"he added. "This new eye", which he was able to test at the beginning of November, "it’s fantastic and (…) it can only get better".
Today’s acrylic implants require an eye socket mold to be made in advance, a cumbersome procedure, especially for children, before they are placed and painted.
With the 3D version, a simple scan is enough. A computer program creates a three-dimensional model and the results are sent to a printer in Germany, which produces the eye in two and a half hours.
Quicker to make, this fake eye also appears more natural as it allows light to pass through its full depth.
"We hope that this clinical trial will provide us with strong evidence of the added value of this new technology and of the difference it makes for patients. Clearly it has the potential to reduce waiting lists"said Professor Mandeep Sagoo, an ophthalmologist at the hospital.
According to the Moorfields Eye Charity, more than 8 million people around the world have an ocular prosthesis, due to a deformation, disease or trauma. The organization notes that manufacturing techniques have changed little in the past 50 years.
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