Since 1998, various new surgical techniques have been devised for the treatment of diseases of the anterior and posterior cornea; this thesis explores some of these options including Descemet... Show moreSince 1998, various new surgical techniques have been devised for the treatment of diseases of the anterior and posterior cornea; this thesis explores some of these options including Descemet Membrane Endothelial Keratoplasty (DMEK) and Bowman Layer Transplantation. Show less
The primary goal in repairing a peripheral nerve lesion is to guide the outgrowing axon back to its original target organ, which can be done by bridging the defect with an autograft or, more... Show moreThe primary goal in repairing a peripheral nerve lesion is to guide the outgrowing axon back to its original target organ, which can be done by bridging the defect with an autograft or, more experimentally, a synthetic nerve graft. In this thesis an overview is presented of the evaluation methods that are currently used to assess peripheral nerve regeneration and their expediency is discussed. An in vitro electrophysiological evaluation method that charts the electrophysiological properties of the myelinated Aα- and Aβ-nerve fibres was introduced, and it was demonstrated that small differences between grafted nerves could be discriminated. Moreover, the electrophysiological data could be correlated to the morphometrical data, that was likewise broken up into Aα- and Aβ-components. This correlation especially provided new insight in the changes that occur in regenerating nerve fibres. After applying a panel of evaluation methods it was demonstrated that the presence of pores in and biodegradability of synthetic nerve grafts are beneficial to regeneration, evidenced mainly by preferable values of the electrophysiological parameters. Finally the changes that occurred in reinnervated muscles helped to gain insight into the preferential architecture of a synthetic nerve graft. Show less
