CLEAR-VUE: Corneal endothelial cells and OVDs
Research type
Research Study
Full title
CLEAR-VUE: Corneal Loss Elimination And Restoration for Vision, Understanding and Exploitation
IRAS ID
344419
Contact name
Rhiannon Grant
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
The University of Edinburgh
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
NA, NA
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 6 months, 0 days
Research summary
Human corneal endothelium cells (HCECs) form a single layer on the inside of the cornea at the front of the eye, working to maintain fluid and molecule transport across the cornea. They are vital for optical transparency, and thus vision. Their damage during corneal surgery leads to an increase in intraocular pressure, graft failure and vision loss. Ophthalmic viscosurgical devices (OVDs) are used to protect HCECs from mechanical damage during surgeries, though their effectiveness nor their mechanisms are not yet clear. Endothelial cell loss (ECL) after even uncomplicated surgery remains as high as 25% of cases.
Improved and novel OVDs are subject to Irules that mandate testing them using a rabbit model, but no platform for testing OVD effectiveness exists prior to animal trial.
Clear-VUE will use a microfluidic, laboratory based platform in which OVD’s mechanical and biological impacts can be assessed using cells, and in which we can apply OVDs as would occur during surgeries. We will use human donor corneas to obtain primary HCECs - a gold standard research method to test the OVDs with. This will allow us to assess the impact of OVD application on human HCEC behaviour and survival prior to use of an animal model, providing insight into the molecular pathways and mechanical inputs that underpin ECL, refining our use of animal models and targeting new product development to protect patients vision during ophthalmic surgery.
REC name
North West - Preston Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
24/NW/0193
Date of REC Opinion
14 Jun 2024
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion