A Waikato Hospital eye specialist is healing severely damaged eyes using blood taken from patients undergoing the specialist treatment.
Dr Chris Murphy learned the technique when he was working in Moorfields Eye Hospital in London, and brought it back to the Waikato about 18 months ago.
The technique uses blood serum - the clear component of blood that is left after the red cells have been separated out.
Antibiotics are then added to the serum, which has natural anti-bacterial properties, before being applied to the eye.
Dr Murphy said it was useful for people whose damaged eyes could no longer produce their own lubrication.
"Every time the eyelids rub against such an eye, they can cause harm to the surface."
The blood serum acts as a "contact lens", lubricating healing eyes and protecting them from damage while encouraging healing.
People were more open to the idea of having their own blood dropped into their eyes than other people's.
But, he said, there was no reason other people's blood could not be used. He was hoping to use blood from blood banks for the technique, because it was known to be infection-free.
"We don't want to take any unnecessary risks with staff handling the blood."
The technique had so far been used only when all other options had been exhausted because it was expensive and time-consuming.
So far he had used the method on 12 people who had been burns victims or whose eyes were not healing after severe infections.
The worst kind of eye burns were alkaline burns because they quickly destroyed the surface of the eye.
- NZPA
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