A cornea, being the second-to outer layer of the eye, is very susceptible to damage. This damage can be physical, as well as caused by various diseases or infections. Today, when a cornea is damaged beyond recover, a transplant needs to be performed from a recently diseased donor. 

With advancements being made in biotechnology, it might soon be possible to grow such a cornea membrane artificially, through the use of an artificial suspended membrane and stem cell technology. One of the key factors of successful growth lies in the dynamic stretching of this membrane: it mustn’t stay still during the growth process. These are however still hypotheses. 

This experimental device helps to stretch the membrane under very precise pressure levels while continually measuring it’s Young’s modulus, an indicator of the membrane’s strength.