Artificial corneas to be produced here next year<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The Lions Eye Institute of Perth, Australia, the
\nJakarta Eye Center and the University of Indonesia's School of
\nMedicine plan to conduct joint research here into designing
\nhighly sophisticated artificial corneas beginning next year.<\/p>\n
Professor Ian Contable of the Perth institute said on Saturday
\nduring a seminar to mark the 15th anniversary of the Jakarta Eye
\nCenter that the memorandum of understanding for the research had
\nbeen signed by the three parties a day earlier.<\/p>\n
Contable gave no details on the plan but said if the research
\nto design high-quality artificial corneas was a success it would
\nbe a milestone in the industry and help curb problems suffered by
\nrecipients of artificial corneas around the globe.<\/p>\n
Many participants in the seminar, Recent Advances in
\nOphthalmic Surgery, at the President Hotel predicted the new
\nartificial corneas could be cheaper for patients.<\/p>\n
\"The (artificial) corneas currently available are rigid. A few
\nmonths after the transplant, they fall out because the tissue
\naround them goes soft and melts,\" Contable said.<\/p>\n
\"So many eyes have been lost because of such operations.\"<\/p>\n
He said the Lions Eye Institute already had designed \"soft\"
\nartificial corneas, which have been undergoing preclinical
\nlaboratory tests for the past four years.<\/p>\n
\"This (new cornea) does not cause the tissue around the cornea
\nto erode and melt,\" Contable said.<\/p>\n
He said his institute currently was required to carry out at
\nleast 10 operations with the \"soft corneas\" and then wait a year
\nfor an independent committee of doctors to review the results of
\nthe operations.<\/p>\n
\"If they (results) aren't good enough, we would need to make
\nimprovements. If they work, we'll perform 50 more (similar
\noperations),\" Contable said.<\/p>\n
In cornea transplants, the damaged corneas are first removed
\nfrom a patient's eyes. Then the artificial corneas, taken from a
\ncorpse and shaped to fit into the hollows of the patient's eyes,
\nare transplanted.<\/p>\n
According to Contable, his institute's laboratories already
\nhad constructed a new artificial cornea which was officially
\ntested in May last year.<\/p>\n
Separately, Dr. Darmayanti Siswoyo, a specialist in
\nreconstructive eye surgery here, said that eye reconstruction
\nsurgery in Indonesia had become more expensive since the economic
\ncrisis hit.<\/p>\n
\"For example, each pack of sutures used in a surgery, both for
\nthe inner and outer part of the eye, cost about Rp 100,000 before
\nthe crisis hit in June 1997,\" said Darmayanti, who has practiced
\nophthalmology here since 1987.<\/p>\n
Now, the price of the sutures is some Rp 270,000, she added.<\/p>\n
Darmayanti also said that many ophthalmologists here no longer
\nused the imported titanium screws from the United States and
\nAustralia because of the depreciation of the rupiah.<\/p>\n
\"We now use steel wires, which are much cheaper,\" she said.<\/p>\n
A three to six-hour operation on a fractured orbital eye bone,
\nfor example, would cost some Rp 5 million at a private hospital
\nand about Rp 1 million in a state-run hospital.<\/p>\n
The two-day seminar, which ended on Sunday, was attended by
\n236 ophthalmologists from across Indonesia and from three other
\ncountries. Participants at the seminar discussed several new
\noperations for eye diseases and abnormal structures or functions
\nof the eye.<\/p>\n
Many participants detailed their latest research, including
\nresearch dealing with retinal detachments, cataracts and
\nartificial corneas.<\/p>\n
Dr. Sjakon G. Tahija, who has practiced ophthalmology since
\n1988, revealed his success with Pneumatic-Retinopexy, an
\noperation where a special gas is injected into the eye with a
\nvery fine needle.<\/p>\n
In at least 23 operations he personally performed over the
\nlast four years, the operations had proven to grant \"excellent
\nvision\" to patients.<\/p>\n
\"The Pneumatic-Retinopexy operation takes about 15 minutes and
\nis inexpensive,\" Sjakon said.<\/p>\n
\"There's very little discomfort after the operation. And
\nthere's no bruising or change in eye shape. Patient can go back
\nto work a day after the operation.\" (ylt)<\/p>",
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