EBAA looks to the future of eye banking and corneal transplantation by funding the advancement of new technologies and innovations in corneal sight restoration.
Washington, DC—The Eye Bank Association of America (EBAA), the world’s oldest transplant association and nationally-recognized accrediting and standards setting body for eye banks, today announced financial investments into two companies, OcuCell and Auto-ACD. The investments mark EBAA’s forward-thinking approach to the future of eye banking and corneal transplantation, and its pursuit of the next technological developments in the rapidly evolving profession.
“Both OcuCell and Auto-ACD’s work aligns with EBAA’s mission to restore sight worldwide,” said EBAA President & CEO, Kevin Corcoran. “As an association, we are excited to play in integral role in moving the profession forward, making these new technologies available to all our members, and ultimately transforming more lives through the gift of sight.”
OcuCell is planning to develop tissue-engineered grafts to treat two significant corneal diseases leading to vision loss and blindness; Limbal Stem Cell Deficiency and Endothelial Dysfunction. OcuCell will recover limbal cells or corneal tissue, propagate those cells, then seed them onto a substrate that can be implanted into the patient. This will expand the donor pool dramatically while also allowing for extensive quality control measures not possible with traditional donor tissue.
Auto-ACD has developed the Automated Area of Cell Damage (Auto-ACD) system, a computer vision platform that uses advanced image analysis to precisely measure and map cell damage in processed DMEK tissue. Using Auto-ACD, eye banks can complete in seconds processes that previously took up to 30 minutes per tissue, and provide precise reports for use within the eye bank and by corneal surgeons.
With both these investments, EBAA is motivated by desire to advance innovative approaches to eye banking and corneal transplantation, and continues to explore additional opportunities that represent the future of the profession. Companies interested in potential collaboration can fill out EBAA’s online form.
The Eye Bank Association of America (EBAA) is the oldest transplant association in the U.S. EBAA leads the transplantation field by establishing medical standards, maintaining accreditation requirements, providing comprehensive training and certification programs for eye bank personnel, and engages in advocacy to support eye donation, cornea transplantation, and research. EBAA member eye banks have provided tissue for more than 2 million sight-restoring corneal transplants. To learn more, visit restoresight.org.
