Bucky paper as a support membrane in retinal cell transplantation

Patent Number: 7,135,172

Retinal degeneration is a major cause of blindness, percipitated by numerous conditions, including adult macular degeneration. While numerous companies are currently seeking ways of blocking angiogenesis and thereby blocking the retinal degeneration process, when this process has already occurred, there are no options for treatment.

Intensive research is being carried out on ways of using stem cells to regenerate the various cell types comprising the retina. The problem is that administration of stem cells is usually not associated with the stem cells "sticking" where they are suppose to be for therapeutic benefit.

In this patent the use of nanocarbon meshes, which are biocompatible, is disclosed as a method of administering stem cells.

The patent covers the use of "bucky paper", (which is a take from the carbon-60 "bucky ball") as a matrix onto which stem cells, together with various retinal cells, may be seeded and implanted into the area of degeneration.

View this patent on the USPTO website.

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