News

Sensory substitution devices are in development as vision restoration technology for the blind, but a lack of accepted standards for screening users and evaluating their performance represents an important impediment to the ultimate of clinical success of these platforms.

Quantitative in vivo assessment of retinal blood flow attained with ultra-high-speed swept source/Fourier-domain optical coherence tomography could be beneficial for assessing pathologic changes in ocular diseases associated with abnormalities in retinal blood flow.

The Henry Ford OptimEyes Super Vision Center has opened in the new Henry Ford Medical Center. The 140,000-square-foot facility includes 65,000 square feet of space for the Henry Ford OptimEyes Super Vision Center, with the remaining space expected to be leased out to private-practice physicians.

Initial top-line results from a Phase III study of bromfenac ophthalmic solution (Remura, ISTA Pharmaceuticals) indicate that bromfenac was not statistically superior to placebo in treating one sign and one symptom of dry eye disease. ISTA announced this result from the WEST study, the first of two phase III safety and efficacy studies being conducted under a special protocol assessment (SPA) agreed upon with the FDA.

B + L expands recall

Bausch + Lomb (B + L) has expanded its voluntary recall of methylcellulose lubricant ophthalmic solution, USP 1% (Murocel) to six lots. Following this voluntary product recall, B + L will discontinue the product entirely.

Dr. Chu honored

Y. Ralph Chu, MD, has been named one of the top 10 business owners in the Twin Cities in the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal Diversity in Business Awards program.

MoralEyes, a wholesaler and retailer of reading glasses and sunglasses, is launching a used-glasses recycling program Aug. 13 and 14 in New York City.

Technology and eyes

In an effort to assess and address the vision-related effects of the increased use of technology in learning environments, the American Optometric Association (AOA) has conducted a survey and released a report.

JDRF bestows grant

A $495,000 grant from the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) will help researchers at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center further research an eye drop that one day could be used to prevent diabetic retinopathy (DR).

Given the global launch of a corneal inlay (Kamra) for the treatment of presbyopia and an investment by medical technology company Medtronic, AcuFocus says it has experienced significant procedural growth since 2010.

In honor of Cataract Awareness Month in August, EyeCare America, a public service program of the Foundation of the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO), is providing eye exams at no out-of-pocket cost to some people aged 65 or more years.

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), an independent advisory organization in England, has recommended use of a 0.7-mg dexamethasone intravitreal implant in an applicator (Ozudex, Allergan) for the treatment of macular edema due to central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO) as well as for branch retinal vein occlusion (BRVO) in cases in which laser photocoagulation is neither beneficial nor appropriate.

New Web resource

The Centre for Contact Lens Research and the Brien Holden Vision Institute have launched www.contactlensupdate.com, a new source of Web-based information about contact lenses.

OLA meeting in Vegas

The Optical Laboratories Association (OLA) again will hold its annual meeting in conjunction with International Vision Expo West. Registration for the OLA 2011 annual meeting, which will be held Sept. 22 to 24 at the Sands Expo Convention Center in Las Vegas, is now open.

The International Vision Expo & Conference has announced new initiatives and discounts to help international visitors get the most out of the show, the educational sessions, and the host city.

Yelp Webinar coming

Vision West Inc. and C&E Vision Services Inc. will host a Webinar, ?Yelp 101: Maximizing Yelp?s Business Tools to Attract New Patients? on Thursday, Aug. 11, at 8 pm Eastern Time, 5 pm Pacific Time. The Webinar is part of an ongoing initiative by Vision West and C&E to provide eye-care professionals with relevant social media resources.

Presbyopic spectacle correction is not necessary when performing visual field testing using automated perimetry in pseudophakic patients with a diffractive aspheric multifocal IOL implanted.

The author muses on how the government's massive debt is leading federal leaders to desire to control the healthcare system.

Breakthroughs in genetics and genomics will change our view of biology in coming decades, helping identify the causes of all single-gene eye diseases, gain insight into disease gene functions, untangle the genetics of common eye diseases, and bring the promise-and potential downsides-of personalized medicine into the clinic.

Investigators working with a new method of analysis based on topical coenzyme Q10, a molecule shown to have neuroprotective activity, have successfully profiled different phases of cell death in vivo.