The Company

Rayner Intraocular Lenses Limited (Rayner) is UK’s only manufacturer of intraocular lenses (IOLs), which are used primarily for the correction of aphakia (the absence of the eye's natural lens) post-cataract removal. They also design, manufacture and sell 1,000,000 ophthalmic medical devices and delivery systems per year from their state-of-the-art automated manufacturing facility in Worthing. 

The Problem

Rayner planned to develop a moving IOL that uses the action of the muscles within the eye. However, the company lacks the laboratory testing models to enable pre-clinical testing of a moving IOL in a simulated ex-vivo ocular environment.

The Solution

The partnership allowed Rayner access to Aston University’s sector-leading expertise, notably its unique ex-vivo eye model, which allows surgical implantation of the lenses and creates the potential to assess the impact of fibrosis on the implanted IOL. This model is essential for Rayner to develop the new generation of IOLs. Once developed by Aston University, the model will be refined and transferred to Rayner for iterative testing and future product development. 

Team Aston

Academics from Aston’s College of Health and Life Sciences are delivering this KTP. The team includes Professor James Wolffsohn, an optometrist with a PhD in the measurement of eye focus and Professor Leon Davies, a UK-registered optometrist and academic with a PhD in Physiological Optics, which led to better understanding of ocular accommodation (or eye focus) in the young and ageing eye.

Next steps

The KTP is expected to complete in late 2021 – look out for more updates by following us on Twitter and checking our webpage. 

For more information about Knowledge Transfer Partnerships or an informal chat, email ktp@aston.ac.uk or call Martin May, KTP Manager, on 0121 204 4253.