Scientists investigate the eye's healing process

The eye’s healing mechanisms have been investigated by University of Texas at Dallas researchers.

The scientists injected collagen into tiny channels the width of a human hair within transparent plastic.

The resulting material is similar in structure to the fibrils found in the cornea.

Bioengineer Dr David Schmidtke, from the University of Texas at Dallas, highlighted that how corneal keratocytes repair tissue, and why scar tissue is left behind in some cases, is not well understood.

“We came up with a way to mimic an injury model, so we can look at how the cells respond when there is a wound,” he said.

Scientists plan to investigate how the density, elasticity and dimensionality of fibrils affect keratocytes.

The study could assist efforts to develop new methods of reducing corneal scarring and develop tissue replacements.

Image credit: Pixabay/Skitterphoto