Anterior Eye Segment Dissection: A Method to Isolate Cornea Bearing Anterior Segment from Porcine Eye

After removing the extra orbital tissues, and washing the eyes with Antibiotic-Antimycotic-PBS, to hemisect the eye, place the eye on the Antibiotic-Antimycotic-PBS-soaked gauze. Use a sterile razor blade or scalpel to create an incision near the equator of the eye. Then, hemisect the eye using curved surgical scissors to isolate the anterior eye.

Use microscissors as a shovel to scoop the vitreous humor from the anterior segment, and remove the lens from the anterior segment with microscissors. Gradually, cut the iris to the iris root radially, until the trabecular meshwork is visible. Extend the cut 360 degrees around the iris, to expose the entire trabecular meshwork region, and clean up any remaining residual iris covering the trabecular meshwork, if necessary.

Trim the ciliary body remnants posterior to the trabecular meshwork region, leaving only a 1-millimeter thin band of the tissue. After placing the anterior segment in the petri dish, wet a cotton swab in the media, and gently dab in the center of the cornea to remove any pigment. Hold the eyes with forceps, and remove extra pigment around the sclera by wiping.