Eyecare in the News

Starting The School Year Right

As many children head back to school this fall, are they truly prepared for what lies ahead? With a few simple medical exams; Maine's school-age children will be armed with the tools they need to have a healthier school year...

Drug Discovery Tools To Fight Cancer, Blindness To Be Discussed At UB Symposium

Twenty-first-century pharmaceutical breakthroughs require 21st-century drug discovery tools, such as computational or in silico molecular design and high-throughput screening of effective, new compounds. That's the theme of a University at Buffalo symposium to be held Sept...

'Back-To-School' How To Prevent Sports Related Eye Injuries

It's back to school time! Kids are feeling excited and maybe a little nervous. New teachers, new friends and new sports seasons. Parents are scrambling to buy back-to-school clothes and equip their children with all the sports gear they need, like helmets, pads, braces and mouth guards...

Carl Zeiss Meditec Is Shaping The Future Of Ophthalmology: Creating What's To Come

Carl Zeiss Meditec is once again presenting its expanded offer of solutions for cataract, refractive and retina applications. Under the theme - Creating what's to come - the company is demonstrating how it would like to shape the future of ophthalmology with its products and solutions...

OptiMedica's Laser Cataract Surgery System To Be Featured In Three Clinical Presentations At ESCRS 2010

Global ophthalmic device company OptiMedica Corp. has announced that clinical results for its laser cataract surgical system will be the subject of three presentations at the European Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons annual meeting in Paris, September 4 - 8...

Dr. Tom Tooma Purchases Interest In All 12 Southern California TLC Laser Eye Centers, Changing Name To NVISION Laser Eye Centers

All 12 TLC Laser Eye Centers in Southern California are changing their names to NVISION Laser Eye Centers. The name change accompanies the sale of TLC Vision's interest in the 12 centers to Medical Director Dr. Tom Tooma to become a separate LASIK brand. The new brand will operate as NVISION Laser Eye Centers and will have the same 12 Southern California locations, same surgeons and staff...

Bausch + Lomb Releases Single-Use Vitreoretinal Asymmetric Peeling Forceps

Bausch + Lomb Storz® Ophthalmic Instruments announces the U.S. release of a new, single-use, asymmetric peeling forceps for vitreoretinal surgery. The forceps are available in 23- and 25-gauge options for facilities seeking the safety, consistency and convenience a single-use instrument offers...

New Data Will Help Predict Vision Loss In Glaucoma

Eye M.D.s are intent on finding better ways to diagnose and treat glaucoma, a complex, potentially blinding disease. September's Ophthalmology journal includes new data from the Rotterdam Study that will help doctors better predict visual field loss (VFL) in glaucoma patients. Johannes R...

Proprietary Zinc/Phytase Formulation Improved Botulinum Toxin A Results

A recent study conducted by oculoplastic surgeon Charles Soparkar, M.D., Ph.D. (The Methodist Hospital, Houston, TX) utilizing a patent-pending formulation of zinc and phytase (trademarked as ZYTAZE?), demonstrated that increasing zinc levels by oral administration for 4 days prior to a planned injection of botulinum toxin improved efficacy and/or duration in 41 of 44 patients tested (93%)...

ReVision's Fenretinide (RT-101) Reduced Incidence Of Choroidal Neovascularization By More Than 50 Percent In Patients With Geographic Atrophy

ReVision Therapeutics Inc. announced that data from a Phase 2b trial show that fenretinide (RT-101) reduced the incidence of choroidal neovascularization (CNV, wet age related macular degeneration) by about 50 percent in patients with geographic atrophy (GA), the most advanced form of dry age related macular degeneration (AMD). The data, presented Monday by Alexander M. Eaton, M.D...

Microplasmin Meets Primary Endpoint In Second Phase III Trial In VMA, Confirms Positive Findings Of First Trial

ThromboGenics NV (Euronext Brussels: THR), a biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of innovative treatments for eye disease, vascular disease and cancer announces that its second Phase III trial evaluating microplasmin for the non-surgical treatment of vitreomacular adhesion (VMA) has met its primary endpoint...

pSivida Announces Iluvien(R) Receives FDA Priority Review For Treatment Of Diabetic Macular Edema

pSivida Corp. (NASDAQ:PSDV) (ASX:PVA), a leader in the development of sustained release back of the eye drug delivery systems for difficult-to-treat conditions, announced that its licensee, Alimera Sciences (NASDAQ:ALIM) has been notified that the U.S...

Allergan Receives FDA Approval For LUMIGAN(R) 0.01% As First-Line Therapy Indicated For The Reduction Of Elevated Intraocular Pressure In Glaucoma

Allergan, Inc. (NYSE:AGN) announced the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved LUMIGAN® (bimatoprost ophthalmic solution) 0.01% as a first-line therapy indicated for the reduction of elevated intraocular pressure (IOP) in patients with open-angle glaucoma or ocular hypertension. LUMIGAN® 0...

Improving Ocular Disease Screening By LED Illumination Of The Eye

A new imaging system using six different wavelengths to illuminate the interior of the eyeball (ocular fundus) may pave the way for doctors to easily screen patients for common diseases of the eye, such as age-related macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy. The system is described in the journal Review of Scientific Instruments, which is published by the American Institute of Physics...

Eyegenix? Artificial Cornea Achieves Major Advancement Towards Curing Corneal Blindness

Eyegenix?, the ophthalmic division of Cellular Bioengineering, Inc. (CBI), announced that the results of a pilot clinical trial using a synthetic cornea for which Eyegenix? holds the exclusive global license for transplantation were published in the peer-reviewed journal, Science Translational Medicine (Volume 2, Issue 46, August, 25, 2010)...

Diabetic Macular Edema Drug Iluvien Gets FDA Priority Review

Iluvien(R) (fluocinolone acetonide intravitreal insert), an investigational sustained drug delivery system that releases sub-microgram levels of fluocinolone acetonide for DME (diabetic macular edema) treatment, has been accepted for filing and granted Priority Review States by the FDA (Food and Drug Administration, USA), Alimera Sciences, Inc. announced today...

Optometrists Encourage Eye Test For Children, Ireland

Optometrists are encouraging parents and teachers across the country to take their children for a special eye test as part of its Bright Eyes For Back to School campaign which runs next week (from September 6th to 11th)...

'Toolbox Of MiniPromoters' For Gene Research And Therapy Unvelied By UBC Researchers

University of British Columbia researchers have led the development of a new "toolbox of MiniPromoters" for research and future therapies on brain, spinal cord and eye function. MiniPromoters are small segments of human DNA with the ability to turn genes on and off at specific times and locations...

Revolutionary Way To Treat Eye Cancer May Prevent Blindness

Rare but devastating, eye cancer can strike anyone at any time and treating it often requires radiation that leaves half of all patients partially blind. But a new technique developed by Scott Oliver, MD, assistant professor at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, may change all that...

Seeking Quality Education For Deaf Blind Children In Today's Environment

Deaf blind children can be isolated and disconnected from people and activities. Without individualized support, they cannot access visual and auditory information and often complete school unable to seek future education, employment, or independent living. Providing appropriate special education and related services for deaf blind children poses unique challenges...

Vision And Nerve Growth Restored By Biosynthetic Corneas Formulated With Recombinant Collagen

FibroGen, Inc., has announced results of a 2-year clinical study demonstrating that surgical implantation of biosynthetic corneas formulated with the company's proprietary recombinant human type III collagen (rhCIII) restored vision and promoted nerve regeneration (restoring sensitivity) in patients who had corneal damage and significant vision loss...

Bradley R. Straatsma, MD, JD Named 2010 American Academy Of Ophthalmology Laureate

The American Academy of Ophthalmology (Academy) will present its highest honor - the 2010 Laureate Recognition Award - to Bradley R. Straatsma, MD, JD, for his distinguished career and contributions to ophthalmology. Dr. Straatsma is to be honored with the award on Oct. 17 at the Academy's Joint Meeting with the Middle East Africa Council of Ophthalmology (MEACO) in Chicago. Dr...

Risk Of Eye Infection With Contact Lens Solution, UK

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is warning people that a manufacturer, Abbott Medical Optics (AMO), is recalling two lots of AMO Complete multi-purpose contact lens solution because of the potential to cause eye infections. AMO Complete multi-purpose contact lens solution may have poor fitting caps on the bottles and so the solution may not be sterile...

Biosynthetic Corneas Restore Sight In Patients With Significant Vision Loss

Patients with corneal damage and considerable vision loss had biosynthetic corneas implanted into their eyes with FibroGen's proprietary rhCIII (recombinant human type III collagen), which restored their vision and promoted nerve regeneration. A report on this 2-year Phase I clinical trial has been published in the peer-reviewed journal Science Translational Medicine...

Biosynthetic Corneas Restore Vision In Humans

A new study from researchers in Canada and Sweden has shown that biosynthetic corneas can help regenerate and repair damaged eye tissue and improve vision in humans. The results, from an early phase clinical trial with 10 patients, are published in the August 25th, 2010 issue of Science Translational Medicine...