A few months ago, it was medical waste.

Now, the amniotic membrane — the innermost membrane that surrounds a woman’s placenta — is being saved by doctors at Toronto East General Hospital so it can be used to help heal eyes.

Strange as it may sound, the spare piece of reproductive tissue has properties that make it a natural bandage. When a piece is implanted on to the surface of an injured eye, the wound heals faster and there is less scarring

“The tissue is unique,” says Dr. Charlotte Wedge, chief of ophthalmology at Toronto East General. “It calms down inflammation, it stops blood vessels from going where we don’t want them and it provides a substrate for new cells to grow on.

“And, once it’s done its job, the tissue just sloughs away.”

The new program to recycle amniotic membrane is the first in Ontario.

Until now, eye surgeons in the province have had to use older, somewhat outdated remedies on patient’s eyes. In some cases, patients have lost their sight because wounds did not heal properly.

Wedge says amniotic membrane is especially useful to place on eyes that have been injured by chemical or thermal burns, and as a graft in treating eye cancer and glaucoma.

There are only two other programs in Canada that repurpose amniotic membrane for eye surgeries, one in Winnipeg and one in Edmonton. In emergencies, Ontario doctors have had to beg ophthalmologists in those cities for spare membrane, Wedge says.

Last year, a donation to the Eye Bank of Canada, Ontario Division, made it possible for amniotic membrane to be processed and stored in the province. The funds for the specialized freezer, which keeps the membrane at -70C, and the chemicals and equipment needed to treat the tissue, came from the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and Rebekahs.

With the freezer in place, the next step was to ask women to donate their placentas.

Wedge, who is also the eye bank’s associate medical director, asked Dr. Elin Raymond, an obstetrician/gynecologist at Toronto East General for help.

“We handle it all the time and we had never heard of it being used this way,” Raymond says, remembering her surprise at hearing that amniotic membrane could be used to heal eyes. “The eye doctors here think it’s gold.”

Raymond happily asks her patients who are eligible to participate in the program — healthy women under the age of 40 who deliver by elective c-section — whether they want to donate their placenta after birth.

“Most are so excited,” she says. “They see it as a little bit of a bonus — they get a healthy baby and a chance to help someone’s eyes.”

Women who choose to donate are screened as if they were donating blood to ensure they are healthy and to prevent the transmission of infectious diseases.

The first amniotic membrane was collected and banked in November. To prepare it for storage, Wedge says the membrane is peeled off the placenta, cleaned and treated, then carefully cut into small squares. Each donation can produce between 50 and 100 “bandages” for eyes.

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Eye surgeons from across the province now have access to the membrane. Wedge, who treated the first patient with Ontario-sourced membrane in January, says she doesn’t believe there ever will be a shortage.

Before the program, Wedge would use amniotic membrane to treat patients just two or three times a year. Now, she will likely use the unique bandage at least once a month.

“It’s not used in a lot of day-to-day surgeries,” she says. “But when we need it, it is very important.”