The structure and evolution of eye banking: a review on eye banks’ historical, present, and future contribution to corneal transplantation

Abstract:

The purpose of this review is to describe the increasing roles and responsibilities of eye banking with focus on its roles in the US historically, currently, and in the future. Since the establishment of the first eye bank by Townley Paton in 1944, eye banks have been responsible for both the safety and quality of corneal graft procurement, preparation, and distribution. Over time, eye banks have played an increasing role in the evolving world of corneal transplantation. Eye banks have repeatedly risen to new challenges regarding disease transmission, preparation of partial-thickness graft preparation, use of novel technology, and adjustment to meet constant increasing legislation and regulation. As the future will likely bring new opportunities as well as challenges, eye banks need to continually adapt to future technical and regulatory obstacles, ensuring that the future of corneal transplantation continues to be increasingly safe and successful.

Keywords::

• eye bank
• corneal transplant
• DMEK
• DSAEK
• femtosecond laser

Acknowledgments

We would like to personally thank Stacey Gardner (EBAA, Director of Education) and Chris Stoeger (Lions VisionGift, Director of Operations, Portland, OR) for their contribution of knowledge and resources to the preparation of this manuscript.

Author contributions

Winston Chamberlain has had full access to all the data in the study and takes responsibility for the integrity of the data. All authors contributed toward data analysis, drafting and revising the paper and agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work.

Disclosure

The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.