Looking back, looking forward

This issue concludes a two part look at the “The Future of Eye Banking.” It is by no means intended to suggest that all issues and opportunities facing eye banking today in the delivery of safe and effective allograft tissue for transplantation have been addressed. It does, however, attempt to pose some of the factors presented in the evolving world of eye banking. As eye banking emerged from a moist chamber, middle of the night emergency surgery with long waiting lists for transplants into an elective scheduled surgery with little or no waiting lists, the challenges have changed. The eye banks have become far more technically complex, more regulated, and, more professional. From the days or nights of just recovering whole globes or excised corneas to rush to an operating theater for next day surgery to the required testing parameters and advantages of long term storage media, to the specialized eye bank laboratory preparation of DSAEK or DMEK corneas the challenges to eye banks have changed. Now eye banks must be concerned with financial demands, federal regulations, competition, emerging infectious or communicable diseases, branding, and the relevance of smaller local service eye banks, all while maintaining focus on quality tissue delivery.