Ophthalmologists and Surgeons

As a surgeon, you have a key role in the eye donation process. Your patients rely on your skill to perform corneal grafts and other procedures in their journey to new sight.

The Minnesota Lions Eye Bank works with surgeons in Minnesota, throughout the United States, and in other countries, and we know how important tissue quality and safety is to surgeons and other health care providers who use eye tissue in their care of patients.

Alert: For information on EK reimbursement, please see our Letter to Surgeons (PDF 300kb).

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Quality Eye Tissue

  • The Minnesota Lions Eye Bank ensures that transplantable tissue from a donor meets or exceeds all Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Eye Bank Association (EBAA) screening criteria.
  • The medical director and associate medical directors work alongside the Minnesota Lions Eye Bank staff to ensure quality processes and procedures for procurement, evaluation, and distribution of eye tissue.
  • Our medical director and executive director oversee and are actively involved in the eye bank's quality system.

Accreditation and Inspections

  • The Minnesota Lions Eye Bank has continually earned a three-year accreditation by the Eye Bank Association of America (EBAA).
  • The Minnesota Lions Eye Bank is fully registered with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). It has participated in FDA inspections without receiving Inspectional Observations or Warning Letters.

Available Eye Tissue

The Minnesota Lions Eye Bank can provide the following eye tissues:

  • PK surgical corneas for transplant
  • KLAL surgical corneas for transplant
  • Pre-cut Endothelial Keratoplasty (EK) corneas for transplant
  • Surgical whole eyes
  • Whole sclera
  • Half sclera
  • Quarter sclera

Scheduling Eye Tissue

You may schedule patients for cornea or sclera eye tissue by contacting:

Adam Baxter
Distribution Coordinator
Direct Line: 612-624-0433
Fax: 612-626-1192

We strongly encourage advanced scheduling for all tissue. Early scheduling is especially important for EK tissue requests. The demand for pre-cut EK tissue is high nationwide. Scheduling EK tissue for use on Thursdays or Fridays provides an advantage in processing orders.

Recipient Follow-up and Tissue Tracking

The FDA and the EBAA require eye banks to obtain recipient information from the transplanting surgeon on each eye tissue used for human transplantation.

Surgeons must return recipient information to the eye bank in a timely manner to continue to receive tissue from the Minnesota Lions Eye Bank.

The Minnesota Lions Eye Bank requests 3 to 12 month follow-up reports on recipients as well. This information is not required but is greatly appreciated.

Processing Fees

It is against federal law for human tissue to be sold or bought in the United States, but it is legal and necessary for recovery agencies to charge a reasonable processing fee to cover costs for staff and supplies.

Adverse Tissue Reactions

To report adverse tissue reactions, please promptly contact:

Wallis Cale
Quality Systems Director

Direct Line: 612-624-0971
Fax: 612-625-4295
Email: calex001@umn.edu

Surgeon Feedback

We welcome feedback about our services. To comment, please contact:

Raylene Dale Streed, C.E.B.T.
Technical Director

Direct Line: 612-624-1961
Fax: 612-625-4295
Email: dalex011@umn.edu

Ophthalmologists

Patients with a wide variety of eye diseases and visual problems rely on ophthalmologists for their expertise in managing vision health, including proper diagnosis, treatment, and care.

Ophthalmologists partner with other specialists and with hospitals to manage vision care and to educate patients and family members about vision health.

The Minnesota Lions Eye Bank is a resource for ophthalmologists who need information about eye donation and the use of eye tissue for research and education.