Berkeley Architect sustains his vision despite blindness

Oh, that we could see as clearly as blind architect Chris Downey. Leading his UC Berkeley seminar students to equitable, barrier-eliminating design solutions or consulting on a 170,000-square-foot blind rehab center at the Veterans Affairs center in Palo Alto or filling the stroke seat on his East Bay Rowing Club team, the 52-year-old Piedmont architect and teacher says he lacks sight, but is not without vision.

Tablet computers for the blind in development

Is Braille on the way out? Do we have enough interest in teaching Braille to visually impaired students? Considering some of the subject matter cannot be explained to them by voice, are there any attempts to make this means of communication more accessible via smartphones and technology in the current age? Surprising to some, there are attempts being made to develop this technology to help the visually impaired students.

Intas launches RAZUMAB, the first biosimilar to Lucentis (ranibizumab)

Intas Pharmaceuticals has launched RAZUMAB, its biosimilar to Lucentis (ranibizumab).

Students in Birmingham develop a smart cane for the blind

A revolutionary ‘smart’ cane enabling the visually impaired to instantly identify friends and family could be available soon, thanks to students at Birmingham City University.

Converting rods into cones in a model of retinitis pigmentosa (RP) rescues retinal degeneration

Heritable retinal degeneration is a common cause of visual impairment and blindness, affecting millions of people worldwide. Many research groups have focused on targeted gene therapy as a treatment for these diseases. However, inherited retinal diseases can be caused by mutations in any one of more than 200 genes, and the pathogenic mechanisms of various mutations differ greatly. This was the motivating factor in the work by Dr James C Corbo and his team at the Washington University School of Medicine to develop gene-independent therapies that would be more widely applicable. This work has been published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Blind candidates to get extra 20 minutes per hour in HPSC exams

Coming to the aid of a blind candidate, the state commissioner for persons with disabilities has directed the Haryana Public Service Commission (HPSC) to give additional 20 minutes per hour to blind candidates appearing in competitive examinations conducted by the Commission.

Study challenges conventional wisdom that sight-based brain sensory network is impaired with blindness

Is visual input essential to how the topographical map of the visual cortex develops in the human brain? In a new research, scientists at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and those from in Germany and USA, show that the way in which the brain organizes its visual sense remains intact even in people who are blind from birth.

New development in the race to bring bionic eye closer to patients

A French company called Pixium Vision is testing a system called Iris that promises to improve the vision of the blind.

A major advance in gene therapy for Retinitis Pigmentosa

A paper published in Nature Communications sheds light on why, until now, it has not been possible to effectively restore vision in rd1 mice – the world’s major model for retinitis pigmentosa (RP). This research also demonstrates how a particular type of mutation in this mice was the cause of failure of previous gene therapy attempts.

Legally Blind Mom Sees New Baby With Special Eyewear

A specialized piece of eyewear gave a legally blind woman from Ontario, Canada, the opportunity to do something that new parents may take granted — see her baby hours after his birth.

Students build sonar based watch for helping the blind to navigate

When a biologist who studies bats and a computer scientist cross paths, amazingly cool things can happen. Cool things such as a sonar device to assist the visually impaired.

Does a full vision restoration happen after treatment from being blind from birth?

A partial restoration of sight is possible in individuals blind from birth, thanks to the most recent advances in research. However, a group of researchers of the Mind/Brain Center of the University of Trento and of the University of Montréal in Canada have discovered that the functional reorganization of the brain happens in individuals who, for a long period, experienced a long sense deprivation, which could potentially impede complete sight restoration.

Nanotechnology breakthrough will lead to a better bionic eye for the blind

(c) American Chemical Society

 
Scientists from Hebrew University of Jerusalem researchers, in collaboration with colleagues from Tel Aviv University and Newcastle University, have developed a new light-sensitive film that could one day form the basis of a bionic eye (or an artificial retina) that could help people suffering from retinal damage or degeneration.

Is a whole eye transplant possible?

When we talk about an eye transplant, we usually refer to a cornea transplant, in the present day scenario. No one so far has been able to remove a complete eye from a donor, and transplant it into a recipient and make the eye function. But it looks like this is about to change...

Increased risk of acute angle closure observed in patients with retinitis pigmentosa

Clinician scientists from Taiwan, in a large observational study of over 380 patients over a 15-year period, have observed increased risk of acute angle closure in patients with retinitis pigmentosa (RP). In addition, they also noticed that angle closure attack occurred earlier in life, with the risk higher in males, in patients with RP, compared to the general population where such an attack is more commonly seen in elderly females.

The association between RP and glaucoma was first proposed in 1862. Since then, it has been considered a difficult diagnosis to make in patients with RP due to coexistent changes such as retinal nerve fiber layer defect and visual field defect in RP, which are also seen in patients with glaucoma.

As is known, RP is a major cause of blindness in adults. Intraocular pressure (IOP) elevation may aggravate the visual impairment in RP patients with preexisting retinal and optic nerve dysfunction. Acute angle closure, the major risk factor for blindness among angle closure eyes, may cause particularly devastating damage to RP patients. Angle closure related IOP elevation is preventable by timely intervention to widen the drainage angle in susceptible eyes.




Advice: If you are a patient with RP, It is a good idea to get a check done by your retina specialist if you ever feel your vision has reduced suddenly from the previous state, or you have significant pain in or around the eye/s.

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Japanese woman is first recipient of next-generation iPS stem cells for macular degeneration

A Japanese woman in her 70s has become the first person in the world to receive retinal cells derived from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS). In a two-hour procedure on September 12, 2014, a team of three eye specialists lead by Dr Yasuo Kurimoto of the Kobe City Medical Center General Hospital, Japan, implanted a 1.3 by 3.0 millimetre sheet made of retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) cells into one eye of this patient, who was diagnosed with age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

Is Valproic Acid effective in treating patients with Retinitis Pigmentosa?

There have been some reports in academic journals about the use of Valproic acid (VPA) in Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP). We thought we can review the current status of these trials and evaluate where we stand in the outcomes.

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. 

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.

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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.





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