Assistant Professor Dr. Ithar Bisthawi, within An-Najah’s Department of Optometry, has published a research article entitled: “Biomechanical changes after repeated collagen cross-linking on human corneas assessed in-vitro using scanning acoustic microscopy” in the Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences (IVOS) journal.

In her paper, Dr. Bishtawi discusses the effect of photodynamic therapy (Collagen Cross-Linking) on the human cornea. Photodynamic therapy is considered the best treatment to stop the deterioration of keratoconus disease (severe weakness in the tissues of the cornea leading to a sequential decrease in visual acuity), which is on the rise in the Middle East, and Palestine in particular.

This therapy aims at saturating the cornea tissues with vitamin B2 for half an hour and then using ultraviolet light in conjunction with distilled vitamin B2 for another half hour. This will work on rebuilding links between the weak corneal tissues and thus increase the binding of the tissue and stop the deterioration of the keratoconus. However, in some cases, the treatment requires repetition. Therefore, the study analysed the effect of repeated Collagen Cross-Linking on Human corneas assessed in vitro using scanning acoustic microscopy, which is a brand new technique that has never been used before on the human cornea.

The research suggested that the repeated Collagen Cross-Linking can increase the amount of cornea tissues binding. The research team studied the impact of repeated chemical optical treatment on the health and safety of the corneal tissues. The research results will be published later.

IVOS is now recognising and using the State of Palestine in its official correspondences.

To view the research visit the link:

http://www.iovs.org/content/early/2014/02/04/iovs.13-13042.