In what has been described as a breakthrough procedure in Israel, the thinnest-ever artificial cornea has been successfully implanted by an Israeli medical team at the Shaare Zedek Medical Center.
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The surgery, on a man named Walid Salama, was carried out in early March. The Jerusalem hospital was chosen to perform this complex operation because of the experience its staff has in this field. According to the hospital, the surgery involved a special approach that allows for a quicker recovery and reduces the chances of the cornea being rejected by the body.
Liron Berkovitz, an eye surgeon specializing in cornea, cataract, and refractive surgery, and David Zadok, the head of the Ophthalmology Department in the hospital, carried out the operation.
"This is yet another step toward a future where we can reduce our dependency on human tissue," Berkovitz said, adding that the patient had also undergone a cornea implant from a human being but it was rejected. "Because of the fear that this could happen again, we decided to use the artificial EndoArt cornea whose width is 50 microns (about 0.002 inches), printed by the Israeli medical startup EyeYon."
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