The Artificial Cornea

Human corneal transplantation to date suffers from the shortage of good-quality donor tissue, and in some conditions, allografting is contraindicated. A range of artificial replacements to donor allograft corneas have been developed. These range from keratoprostheses (KPro) that replace basic corneal functions of light transmission and protection to regenerative medicine strategies for regenerating one or more layers of the human cornea. This chapter reviews the advances made in developing artificial corneas or more accurately, artificial alternatives to donor allograft corneas for ocular application.