Service Milestone
One of the world’s first specular microscopes
The Lions Eye Donation Service is one of the very first eye banks in the world to introduce eye bank specular microscopes to eye banking in 1991, revolutionising eye donation and corneal transplantation.
The Lions Eye Donation Service (LEDS) purchased one of the first eye bank specular microscopes in the world.
Since then, the LEDS team have used specular microscopy to revolutionise corneal donation in Australia.
What is a specular microscope?
Specular microscopy allows for a noninvasive photo to be taken that helps visualise and analyse the corneal endothelium.
This allows the team to analyse the size, shape and population of the endothelial cells, checking for abnormalities indicating trauma.
Prior to specular microscopy, eye donation was largely restricted to donors under 65 years of age – specular microscopy allows us to make decisions on the suitability of corneas for transplant regardless of the age of the donor.