Reconstruction of the ocular surface using biomaterial templates

This chapter discusses the effect on vision of a large group of pathological conditions, known as ocular surface disorders (OSDs), and presents the therapeutic strategies to reconstruct the abnormal ocular surface. If left untreated, most of the OSDs will lead to partial or total loss of eyesight, especially when limbal stem cell deficiency is involved. An overview of various treatment strategies is presented, with the emphasis on the development of the ex vivo expansion of corneal limbal epithelial cells (presumed to be progenitor or stem cells) and the creation of transplantable epithelial constructs. The use of naturally derived biomaterials (collagen, fibrin, amnion, etc.) or synthetic polymers (polylactides, thermoresponsive polymers, etc.) as substrata in these constructs is critically analyzed. Emphasis is placed on the templates from silk proteins, which are being developed by the authors.