Development and clinical assessment of an artificial cornea

Keratoprosthesis research has been a gradual, rather fragmentary process with advances being made by isolated groups of researchers. This has arisen partly because of poor funding in the area; research groups which have achieved commercial support have often had constraints upon the full disclosure of their findings. Despite these difficulties there has been real progress over the last decade by several independent groups. This article concentrates upon our own development of a hydrogel core-and-skirt keratoprosthesis, the Chirila KPro, in order to illustrate the scientific and clinical problems common to keratoprosthesis research. Pilot data from a clinical trial is presented and the priorities for future research are discussed.