Time-lapse recordings offer insights into human corneal epithelial healing process

Using a time-lapse technique to study epithelial wound healing over time at the cellular level can help researchers fill the gap between in vivo studies and cell culture techniques, according to a group of Swedish researchers.

Thorir Hardarson and colleagues at the University of Gothenburg took pictures at 1-minute intervals from human corneal tissue obtained from an eye bank or from surgery. Pictures ranged in magnification from 80 to 1,800 times. The observation period was 4 days. Researchers produced small, rounded lesions in the corneal epithelia using a miniature drill.

The healing process, which could be followed for several days, was divided into a slow, a rapid and a consolidating phase. The first two phases lasted about 12 hours; by then epithelial cells had covered the lesion.

The study is published in the April issue of Acta Ophthalmologica Scandinavica.