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sam_goody

Awesome. Moving. Inspiring.

There are all sorts of headlines about one technology or another that seems to never get beyond the lab.

How long have we been waiting for some way to regrow the tooth after a cavity?

But then suddenly there is something like this. A PATIENT ACTUALLY REGAINED SIGHT after years of total blindness.

That cannot be said with enough awe to do it justice. It brings new faith to those at the forefront of medicine.

Anyways, for the docs in this and every other groundbreaking attempt.... Thanks! No, really, Thank you with all my heart!

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It's really amazing. I don't want to be the usual cynic HNer talking stuff down, because this seems really groundbreaking.

However, corneal transplants are already a thing, and "Within the United States, the supply of corneas is sufficient to meet the demand for surgery and research purposes."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corneal_transplantation

Of course a synthetic cornea seems like a more scalable solution, and probably reduces costs in the long term, so this is great progress.

It is true that corneal transplantation is a thing since decades. However, a corneal transplant, like any transplant, has its issues. Rejections can still occur, and the healing process takes a long time, usually not less than one year, involving constant adjustments. If a cost-effective synthetic inert material addresses these issues, this is immense progress.

But the GGP says

>>> How long have we been waiting for some way to regrow the tooth after a cavity?

An artificial cornea probably solves a lot of problem with rejections, but it is somewhat like filing the cavities in the teeth with whatever paste they are using.

I've read about people getting cataract surgery and ending up with UV sensitivity due to the material some older synthetic implants were made from, so I always assumed artificial corneas weren't uncommon.[1] I've actually kind of hoped I could get them some day.

Is the difference here that previous implants weren't total replacements, or something else?

[1] e.g. https://www.komar.org/faq/colorado-cataract-surgery-crystale...

You're not being cynical, this is exactly what one should expect in HN - combing through the deeper facts and not just the superficial information.

One thing that honestly puts me off of some HN threads is the breathless "it's full of stars" comments where people take one press release and their minds go to some near-future utopia where everything is perfect and nothing hurts.

I echo this sentiment. Here are the eligibility criteria: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04485858. I am not an opthalmologist, however, it appears this is an option when a transplant fails or is not indicated due to infection. It's still excellent news!

Here's a good info page on corneal blindness https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2823104/ warning made me a bit queasy

Yeah, regrowing teeth has been in the news for decades.

Treating cataracts with eye drops is one I noticed a few years ago.

https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2015/07/eye-drops-could-diss...

I was surprised to find these start forming after age 40.

It’s great when a little science fiction finally works.

I could never find any explanation why when root is exposed and infected you can't treat it with antibiotics and seal the cavity like normal and forced to have a root canal.

Bloody marvelous!

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