Advances in Biomaterials for Corneal Regeneration

Abstract

The human cornea acts as a protective covering for the eye and plays an important role in light transmission into the eye for vision. Corneal defects due to trauma, infection, or disease can have detrimental effects on the vision, and severe cases lead to vision loss. Twenty-three million people are estimated to be affected by corneal blindness worldwide. Treatment involves corneal transplantation surgery, but there is a severe shortage of donor corneas worldwide. Furthermore, patients with severe pathologies risk rejecting conventional corneal transplantation, thus leaving them untreated. Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop new therapies to replace traditional corneal transplant surgery. This review focuses on recent potential biomaterials development for corneal regeneration and repair. It includes cell-based therapies, cell-free regeneration-inducing biomaterials, and injectable or in-situ gelation-based biomaterials for patients with a high risk of graft failure. It also consists of the emerging role of exosomes and extracellular vesicles in corneal infections and regeneration.