Currently, in the United States, eye banks provide tissue for over 80,000 cornea transplants each year[1] to treat conditions such as keratoconus[2] and corneal scarring.
R. Townley Paton, a renowned American ophthalmologist had become affiliated with Manhattan Eye, Ear & Throat Hospital, where he began performing corneal transplants with privately acquired tissue.
In 1955, 27 ophthalmologists (representing 12 eye banks), met with four major medical groups under the auspices of the American Academy of Ophthalmology and Otolaryngology (AAO&O).
A recovery technician is then dispatched to the hospital, funeral home, or medical examiner's office to recover the donor's eyes.
[1] The entire eye, called the globe, may be surgically removed (enucleated), or only the cornea may be excised in-situ and placed in storage media.
Accreditation requires site visits at least once every three years by the EBAA to evaluate adherence to established standards and quality control.
[11] The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) licenses eye banks, and conducts their own inspections, typically on a two-to-three year cycle.