Designing Scaffolds for Corneal Regeneration

Corneal blindness is one of the most common causes of vision loss worldwide, affecting millions of people. To treat these patients, researchers have been examining different approaches to engineer corneal scaffolds suitable for transplantation. Scaffolds have been developed to replace part or all of the cornea depending on the patient requirements. Both acellular and cell-seeded scaffolds have been tested in animal models. Materials that have been under investigation for manufacturing scaffolds include collagen, silk fibroin, amniotic membrane, decellularized cornea, fibrin, chitosan, gelatin, agarose, alginate, and hyaluronic acid in addition to several synthetic polymers. Different combinations of materials, fiber crosslinking techniques, and incorporation of bioactive molecules have also been examined. Factors such as the physical properties, cytocompatibility, degradation behavior, and optical characteristics have to be considered when selecting a suitable scaffold material. Recent advancements in materials fabrication techniques such as bioprinting, electrospinning, and different collagen alignment techniques, allow scaffolds to be generated that more accurately mimic the structure of the corneal stroma. A number of scaffolds have commenced clinical trials to determine their suitability for corneal regeneration.