Londoner receives world’s first 3D printed eye

A London patient is due to become the first in the world on Thursday to have an ocular prosthesis made by a 3D printer implanted, said the hospital in the British capital which is performing the operation.

Steve Verze “will be the first person in the world to receive a fully digitally created, 3D printed eye,” the Moorfields Biomedical Research Center said in a statement.

Halve manufacturing times

The use of 3D printing should make it possible to halve the manufacturing times for this false eye, currently around six weeks, while making more realistic implants, he said.

“I’ve needed a prosthesis since I was 20, and I’ve always felt self-conscious about it,” said patient Steve Verze, a 40-year-old London engineer.

“When I leave home, I often look at myself a second time in the mirror, and I don’t like what I see,” he added. “This new eye”, which he was able to try out previously in November, “is fantastic and (…) things can only get better and better”.

Moorfields patient, Steve Verze, was the first person in the world to receive a digital 3D printed prosthetic eye. Fitted today, Steve says the eye looks ‘fantastic’. Read more about Moorfields pioneering work in prosthetics: https://t.co/VJc38eJUfL

— Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust (@Moorfields) November 25, 2021

With the 3D version, a simple scan of the eye is enough

Current acrylic implants require first the creation of a mold of the eye socket, a heavy and invasive procedure, especially for children who may require general anesthesia. They are then placed and painted.

With the 3D version, a simple scan of the eye is enough. Software builds a three-dimensional model, and the result is sent to a printer in Germany, which prints the eye in two and a half hours.

A prosthesis with a more natural appearance

Faster to manufacture, this false eye also seems more natural because it lets light through to its entire depth.

“We hope this clinical trial will provide us with strong evidence of the added value of this new technology, and the difference it makes for patients. This clearly has the potential to reduce waiting lists, ”commented Professor Mandeep Sagoo, ophthalmologist at the hospital.

According to the Moorfields Eye Charity, more than 8 million people worldwide have an ocular prosthesis, as a result of a deformity, illness or trauma. The organization points out that manufacturing techniques had changed little in fifty years.