UK leading the way in corneal research

Extremely intense X-rays from Diamond - the UK’s national synchrotron - are helping to advance research into the understanding and treatment of eye diseases. Due to the detailed nature of the experiments, researchers from Cardiff University are making discoveries about the eye that should help to advance laser surgeries such as LASIK¹ and contribute to the eventual development of an artificial cornea.

Keratoconus is a degenerative disorder of the eye affecting around one person in every thousand. Patients with this disease experience distorted vision due to a misshaping and uneven surface of their cornea, the main refracting lens in the eye made up of the protein collagen. Vision can be corrected by rigid contact lenses or in more severe cases, surgery.

Prof. Keith Meek, Head of the Structural Biophysics Research Group at Cardiff University, has been using X-ray scattering techniques, first at Daresbury’s Synchrotron Radiation Source (SRS) and now at its successor Diamond Light Source in Oxfordshire, to perform structural analysis of the cornea. By shining specially tuned X-rays onto corneal samples, Prof. Meek’s group has been able to map the orientation and thickness of collagen in corneas both with and without keratoconus.

They found that the cornea has a highly specific fibrous collagen arrangement that is lost in keratoconus. These changes are believed to be pivotal in the progression of the disease and to the development of the keratoconus cornea’s characteristic cone shape. Since the cornea is usually a precise curve, light reaching a keratoconus cornea is not refracted properly and therefore the patient’s vision is drastically affected.

Effective surgery is available to correct this problem but it is not without its complications.

In theory it would take months to scan a single cornea using a conventional laboratory source, but due to the high intensity of Diamond’s X-rays, a cornea can be scanned in just a few hours. In addition, because synchrotron X-rays can be focussed to a tiny spot, we can generate more detailed maps of corneal structure than ever before. In 12 months time at Diamond, the achievable spot size on the non-crystalline diffraction beamline will be in the order of 10 microns, which is less than a 10^th the size of a human hair.

This means that, within a few years, the work will be at a stage where it can feed into the development of artificial biological corneal constructs that mimic the remarkable natural properties of this extraordinary tissue"

With around 65,000 penetrating corneal graft procedures being carried out worldwide each year², this research is playing an important part in advancing eye surgery techniques that are vital to improving the quality of life of those affected by serious eye diseases and disorders.

¹Laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis
²Source: Eye Journal Dec 2008

• Sarah Bucknallat Diamond: 0044 (0) 1235 778639 / 07920 296957 / sarah.bucknall@diamond.ac.uk
• Silvana Damerell at Diamond: (Attending AAAS Meeting) 07841 432780 / silvana.damerell@diamond.ac.uk
• Isabelle Boscaro-Clarke at Diamond 0044 (0) 1235 778130 / 07990 797916 / isabelle.boscaro-clarke@diamond.ac.uk

• Diamond generates extremely intense pin-point beams of synchrotron light of exceptional quality ranging from x-rays, ultra-violet and infrared. For example Diamond’s x-rays are around 100 billion times brighter than a standard hospital X-ray machine or 10 billion times brighter than the sun.
• Many of our everyday commodities that we take for granted, from food manufacturing to cosmetics, from revolutionary drugs to surgical tools, from computers to mobile phones, have all been developed or improved using synchrotron light.
• Diamond will bring benefits to:
  • Biology and medicine. For example, the fight against illnesses such as Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, osteoporosis and many cancers will benefit from the new research techniques available at Diamond.
  • The physical and chemical sciences. For example, in the near future, engineers will be able to image their structure down to an atomic scale, helping them to understand the way impurities and defects behave and how they can be controlled.
  • The Environmental and Earth sciences. For example, Diamond will help researchers to identify organisms that target specific types of contaminant in the environment which can potentially lead to identifying cheap and effective ways for cleaning polluted land.

Cardiff University is recognised in independent government assessments as one of Britain’s leading teaching and research universities and is a member of the Russell Group of the UK’s most research intensive universities. Among its academic staff are two Nobel Laureates, including the winner of the 2007 Nobel Prize for Medicine, Professor Sir Martin Evans.

Founded by Royal Charter in 1883, today the University combines impressive modern facilities and a dynamic approach to teaching and research. The University’s breadth of expertise in research and research-led teaching encompasses: the humanities; the natural, physical, health, life and social sciences; engineering and technology; preparation for a wide range of professions; and a longstanding commitment to lifelong learning.

Visit the University website at: www.cardiff.ac.uk.