Eye Bank

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Eye Bank Technical Advisory Group Activities

Representatives of the European Eye Bank Association, Eye Bank Association of America, Eye Bank Association of Australia and New Zealand, Eye Bank Association of India, and the Pan-American Association of Eye Banks, are working together to develop a global standard terminology to describe ocular tissue for transplant.

The group began meeting early in 2010 and agreed the following goals:

Create and publish a nomenclature that will be endorsed by the professional groups represented
Review the coding of this terminology within ISBT 128
Agree standardized labeling
Determine if there is need for a consensus standard for ocular tissue
Determine the mechanism for on-going maintenance of the terminology

Meeting summaries:

08 July 2010

The group further refined definitions discussed in previous meetings. They agreed to add:

Precut Posterior Cornea Layer
Precut Anterior Cornea Layer
Laser Shaped Cornea

They agreed the term "Cornea" would not be needed after adding these three terms.

The group discussed the need to encode HLA or ABO types and the utility of the Dimensions Data Structure to convey specific information about scleral rim size and endothelial cell density.

18 May 2010

The group refined definitions from 19 April 2010. They defined storage conditions to include:

Cryopreservation
Freeze Dried
Glycerol
Ethanol
Moist Chamber

The group discussed the need for representation from Asia on the committee and suggested several potential participants. The ICCBBA office will follow-up on by inviting Asian representatives to participate in EBTAG when contact information is provided.

19 April 2010

The group met by teleconference and drafted definitions for the following terms:

Corneoscleral disc
Whole Eye
Sclera
Cornea
Limbal Tissue

Cornea subdivision terminology was also discussed.

The group agreed that the focus would be to standardize terminology for transplantable tissue, but this did not exclude standardizing terminology for other tissues.

10 March 2010

This was the first meeting of the Eye Bank Technical Advisory Group. The group discussed expectations and agreed goals. The first task will be to determine if any other groups are working on standardized terminology for ocular tissues and ensure communication among groups working on terminology.