Eye Bank
Eye banks retrieve and store eyes for cornea transplants and research. In 1944, the first eye bank was founded in New York City by two physicians, Dr. Townley Paton and Dr. John MacLean. Eye banks provide tissue for about 46,000 cornea transplants a year in the United States to treat conditions such as keratoconus and corneal scarring. The cornea is not the only part of the eye that can currently undergo transplantation, as the sclera can also be used to surgically repair recipient eyes. In contrast to other organs, there is an adequate supply of corneas for transplants in the United States, and excess tissue is exported internationally However, internationally, there is a shortage of corneal tissue.
Read more about Eye Bank: Recovery of Eye Tissue, Laboratory Processing, Shortage and Growth of Eye Banks, Regulations, List of Eye Banks in The United States
Famous quotes containing the words eye and/or bank:
“A largess universal, like the sun,
His liberal eye doth give to everyone,
Thawing cold fear.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“People get a bad impression of it by continually trying to treat it as if it was a bank clerk, who ought to be on time on Tuesday next, instead of philosophically seeing it as a painter, who may do anything so long as you don’t try to predict what.”
—Katharine Whitehorn (b. 1926)