Non invasive backscattering light to detection of endothelial cells activity for graft sorting: Proof of consent

Abstract

In tissue bank, one of the key steps in the corneal grafts sorting is the analysis of the deepest cell layer of the cornea, the endothelium. This analysis consists of counting the density of living cells using trypan blue staining. However, this dye is toxic and the measurement is localized. Then no information is given on the cell’s viability of the entire cell layer. This preliminary study proposes to track the kinetics of variation of scattered light during the deturgescence process. The backscattered light of two different sets of cornea, with and without endothelial cells, are measured and the decrease of this parameter as a function of the deturgescence time are different. This noninvasive technique could be used as a criterion for attesting the presence or absence of endothelial cells. These specificities make it possible to preserve the endothelial layer compared to the techniques. The ultimate objective would be to use this measurement as a sorting criterion characterizing endothelial pump activity.

Keywords

• Scattering light
• Cornea
• Graft sorting
• Endothelial cells
• Diagnostic