Blind veteran shows how he sees world through photography

By the time an inherited eye disease crossed into legal blindness in 2009, Ed Waldrop had already lost the ability to drive and he feared countless other freedoms would soon be next. But what he lost in sight, he gained in a seize-the-day attitude that revived a long-buried, if now unlikely, ambition to make visual art.

(c) JON-MICHAEL SULLIVAN

In the past three years, the Au­gusta Air Force veteran, who serves as the health chaplain at the Charlie Norwood VA Medical Center, has used what free time he has to transform nature, architecture and vintage cars into unique compositions consistent with how he sees the world.


To read more, read the article in The Augusta Chronicle. 

epiCam, a camera for screening diabetic retinopathy being developed by Epipole, may save sight of millions

Epipole is building a mass market diabetic retinopathy monitoring and screening platform usable by both clinicians and non-clinicians in a home or social environment. The system will provide monitoring capabilities as well as a portable, low cost tool for clinicians for tele-medicine applications.

The platform consists of three parts:

1. A retinal fundus camera tuned specifically to this task.
2. Safe Cloud based storage for all images.
3. A sophisticated piece of software usable by non-clinicians which can run in limited-compute environments.

Diabetes, as is well known, has become a major public health concern. A significant number of those affected with this disease are likely to suffer from diabetic retinopathy. To understand the significance of the problem we face, here are some statistics from ARVO 2011 for the year 2010 (with expected numbers in 2030 in parentheses). 

• 100.8 (154.9) million people with diabetic retinopathy

• 20.6 (31.7) million with proliferative diabetic retinopathy

• 21.3 (32.8) million with diabetic macular edema and

• 33.4 (51.3) million with vision-threatening diabetic retinopathy.

More about epiCam here. 

Launch of a new alliance for global assessment of diabetic retinopathy

A new project has been launched to assess the awareness, treatment and implications of diabetic retinopathy globally. Results are intended to inform decision-making and policy development around this common and serious complication of diabetes.

Project partners, the International Federation on Ageing (IFA) and the International Diabetes Federation (IDF), working in collaboration with the New York Academy of Medicine (NYAM) and the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB) will gather evidence on knowledge, policies, standards of care, and supportive services for retinopathy across 40 countries.

Retinopathy is one of the most common complications associated with diabetes and one of the major causes of adult blindness. Up to 11% of adults with diabetes have Diabetic Macular Edema (DME), a specific type of diabetic retinopathy. According to the IDF Diabetes Atlas 6^th edition, there are large variations in the estimates of retinopathy prevalence in people with known diabetes, with estimates ranging from 11 to 45% worldwide in people with type 1 and type 2 diabetes.

The global assessment of retinopathy has two substantive and connected phases:

1. Phase I comprises approximately 120 interviews in eight countries representative of low, middle and high socio-economic status to better understand the level of awareness of: retinopathy as a condition and common complication of diabetes; the access, availability and pathway to retinopathy services; and the existence and content of relevant governmental policy.

2. Phase II is the implementation of a survey in 40 countries, which will be formulated based on the data gathered in Phase I. The survey aims to garner statistically significant evidence intended to assist in the development of effective governmental policy.

The project will culminate in the production of a barometer report and a compendium of resources designed to increase awareness, as well as to inform policy and practice related to diabetic retinopathy and vision loss across countries.

This project is financially supported by Bayer Pharma AG. Bayer is not involved in the analysis of the findings.

Source

Notal Vision's ForeseeHome AMD Monitor receives FDA clearance

Notal Vision's ForeseeHome™ AMD Monitor has received Section 510 (k) clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

The ForeseeHome AMD Monitor is the first ophthalmic device linking patients and doctors between eye exams for ongoing monitoring of age-related macular degeneration (AMD). 

Patients complete a frequent but brief exam on their ForeseeHome AMD Monitor, in the comfort of their own home, and data is transmitted to the patients' eye care physician and the Notal Vision Data Monitoring Center.  The award winning ergonomic design of the ForeseeHome AMD Monitor is comfortable and easy to use for patients at risk of vision loss from wet AMD.

Wet AMD is the leading cause of blindness in people over the age of 60 in the western world. Recent breakthroughs in treatments place even greater importance on early detection, which can reduce the risks of vision loss associated with wet AMD.  Frequent monitoring is critical in detecting disease onset as early as possible and the ForeseeHome AMD Monitor is the first home monitoring device for following patients at risk of vision loss, offering hope for early intervention through early detection.

Numerous clinical studies have demonstrated the ForeseeHome AMD Monitor is an accurate and reliable tool for frequent monitoring of patients at risk for vision loss from wet AMD.

FDA Indication for Use: 

ForeseeHome is intended for use in the detection and characterization of central and paracentral metamorphopsia (visual distortion) in patients with age-related macular degeneration as an aid in monitoring progression of disease factors causing metamorphopsia including, but not limited to choroidal neovascularization (CNV). It is intended to be used at home for patients with stable fixation. ForeseeHome is not intended to diagnose; diagnosis is the responsibility of the prescribing eye-care professional.

Source

Contact lens allows the blind to 'see'

Engineers in Israel are developing a contact lens they say will allow the blind to recognize
objects by feel rather than sight. The lens is being designed to translate electrical signals into 
shapes on the cornea, producing a tactile effect similar to Braille on the fingertips.





Source

News Bulletin

• Monthly injections may not be necessary for patients with age-related macular degeneration. http://goo.gl/uldMFv

• Converting stem cells to eye tissue could restore sight. http://goo.gl/pJeuiv

• Post-operative healing aided by new gel-based eye fluid. http://goo.gl/YA1B04

• Reversible glue bandage could save injured soldiers' vision. http://goo.gl/fwD2e0

Ohr Pharmaceutical initiates Investigator sponsored trial of squalamine eye drops in diabetic macular edema

Ohr Pharmaceutical, Inc., a research and development company with a primary focus in ophthalmology, has announced the initiation of a Phase II investigator sponsored clinical trial, OHR-005, testing Squalamine eye drops in patients with diabetic macular edema (DME).

The current standards of care for DME include chronic treatments of VEGF inhibitors administered directly into the eye via an injection. Squalamine eye drops may potentially represent a less-invasive treatment option for patients suffering from diabetic macular edema, as per the investigators of this trial. 

OHR-005 is a randomized, placebo controlled, investigator sponsored, multicenter Phase II clinical trial evaluating the effect of Squalamine Eye Drops in patients with DME. The primary endpoints will measure change in retinal thickness and change in Best Corrected Visual Acuity (BCVA) over 24 weeks. Secondary objectives include additional BCVA measurements, change in foveal thickness, evaluation of the need for rescue injections of ranibizumab (Lucentis®) and an assessment of the safety and tolerability of Squalamine Eye Drops. The trial is designed to enroll up to 30 subjects at 3 sites in the United States. Patients will be randomized to receive a single injection of ranibizumab at baseline followed by treatment with either Squalamine lactate ophthalmic solution 0.2% or placebo ophthalmic solution, administered QID for 24 weeks.

Squalamine is an anti-angiogenic small molecule with a novel intracellular mechanism of action, which counteracts multiple growth factors implicated in the angiogenesis process. Ohr Pharmaceutical has developed a novel eye drop formulation of Squalamine for the treatment of wet-AMD, designed for self-administration, which may provide several potential advantages over the FDA approved current standards of care, which require intravitreal injections directly into the eye. The drug, using an intravenous administration in over 250 patients in Phase I and Phase II trials for the treatment of wet-AMD, showed favorable biological effect and maintained and improved visual acuity outcomes. In May 2012, the Squalamine Eye Drop program was granted Fast Track Designation by the FDA. A Phase II randomized, double blind, placebo-controlled study (OHR-002) to evaluate the efficacy and safety of Squalamine Eye Drops for the treatment of wet-AMD has completed enrolling patients. Three additional investigator sponsored trials (IST) are evaluating Squalamine eye drops for the treatment of proliferative diabetic retinopathy, retinal vein occlusion and diabetic macular edema, with one additional IST expected to be initiated in diabetic macular edema in the second calendar quarter of 2014.

Source