Consider replacing it with a sea cucumber. New Scientist reports::
Garrett Matthews, a biophysicist at the University of South Florida in Tampa, US, and his colleagues have come up with a design for artificial corneas that they say achieves this – using sea cucumbers.
Sea cucumbers are sausage-shaped echinoderms, most species of which live on the sea floor in a variety of marine environments around of the globe.
The team's artificial cornea is made from tiny collagen fibres
extracted from these sea cucumbers. When placed in a centrifuge, the
fibres self assemble into layers in which the fibres are aligned
vertically, a structure that is very similar to the tissue in mammalian
corneas. The result is a thin layer of material that is transparent and
biocompatible, as well as cheap and easy to make, says the team.
fibres self assemble into layers in which the fibres are aligned
vertically"
Duh! of course they do.... who else didn't know that?
Not that the consumer will ever see a price difference.