Icop

On October 18th 2013, a new laboratory was inaugurated within Fondazione Banca degli Occhi del Veneto, the International Centre for Ocular Physiopathology, aka ICOP.

Mission: To undertake leading-edge research in the field of Ophthalmology, with particular emphasis on innovative research and development projects focused on eye banking, ocular surgery and ophthalmic products evaluated and benchmarked against world standards.

The International Center for Ocular Physiopathology delivers value to its staff, sponsors and stakeholders through the pursuit of three key objectives, affording a unique opportunity for the alternative use of precious donated tissues unsuitable for therapeutic purposes that would otherwise be discarded:

• to develop effective and safe corneal preservation media (hypothermic/organ culture) for eye banks in order to provide surgeons with the best tissues for grafting;
• to identify, develop and validate techniques, reagents, surgical instruments or medical devices for ocular surgery;
• to undertake cutting-edge studies aimed at genetic profiling, gene expression, isolation of cells, and identification of pathologies of the eye.

We offer companies, research centres and universities the following services:

• clinical studies
• biorepository of human retina and chorold tissues for research
• testing new eye drops - development of new devices and surgical tools for eye banking
• development and testing of new media and products for eye banking
• ocular toxicology tests for contact lenses and artificial tears.