Photo: VCG

Netizens on Chinese social media on Tuesday hailed the news that China may start the clinical use of new self-developed artificial corneas from June 2021.

Shi Weiyun, director of the Shandong Provincial Eye Hospital and also member of the National People's Congress, China's legislative body, told media that patients can have sight restored to 1.0 acuity with the artificial cornea, which would be a blessing to the 20 million sight-impaired people in China.

China currently applies two artificial cornea technologies, the first being the bio-engineering method using corneas from pigs, which is the first in the world and for which China has approved three applications used for clinical treatment. The latest research and development results of the second artificial cornea method have been reported to the national level unit. "If things go smoothly, we can apply it in clinical treatment as early as June 2021," Shi said during the ongoing two sessions in Beijing.     

"Compared with the same cornea plant treatment in the US, the cost of the artificial cornea plant surgery is about $5,000 in China, 10 percent that of the cost in the US," Shi said.

"When those cornea products are widely used in hospitals, blind people in China can regain their sight. Patients can have their sight restored to 1.0 acuity in ideal cases. We have held clinical trials on more than 30 patients and all of them have regained sight to above 0.5 acuity."

The news was among the top topics on China's social media platforms. Netizens said that along with cornea donation channels, which have a huge supply-demand gap, artificial cornea technology can help more people in a more efficient way.

"Science and technology change society and benefit human beings," one netizen commented on China's Twitter-like Sina Weibo, receiving more than 5,000 likes.

"Glad for the blind community, they can see the blue sky," commented another netizen.