In the 1970s, the American television series “The Six Million Dollar Man” chronicled the adventures of Steve Austin, a hero with a bionic eye. Today, the first commercial bionic eye is available on the market.

 

Of course, the Argus II bionic eye implant does not let the blind see at extraordinary distances. In fact, it does not entirely restore sight, but it does help those suffering from retinitis pigmentosis recover partial vision. Argus II is a retinal implant that operates with external glasses equipped with a tiny camera. The camera records black and white images with a 60-pixel resolution. The data is then sent to a radio receptor in the Argus II device, activating microelectrodes, which relay electric signals to the optic nerve. The message is then sent to the brain.

 

Vision is in black and white, and the level of visual acuity is 20/1,260. The implant needs a functional optic nerve to accomplish its task, which makes it inoperable in AMD or glaucoma cases.

Source: http://www.bulletins-electroniques.com/actualites/73218.htm 

 

 

The firm GlobalData predicts that the market value of drugs for dry eye syndrome will triple over the next 10 years.

 

According to GlobalData, this growth will be fueled by the condition’s increasing prevalence, the arrival of new drugs, and the marketing of existing drugs in new territories. The firm gives the examples of Restasis (Allergan), very popular in the U.S., which will be launched in Europe by 2014, and Diquas (Santen Pharmaceuticals), available in Japan and Korea, which will soon be launched in China. The market could also see the arrival of new types of drugs, different from the current eye drops.

 

Drug sales in the U.S. presently account for 63% of the market share. GlobalData predicts that this percentage will drop to 47% in 2022, while the EU’s market shares will grow from 19% to 41%. The firm estimates that sales across the U.S., France, Germany, Italy, Spain, UK, Japan, China, and India will grow from $1.6 billion in 2012 to $5.5 billion in 2022, at an average annual growth rate of 12.8%.

Source: http://eyewiretoday.com/view.asp?20130613-dry_eye_syndrome_treatment_market_to_grow_by_nearly_4_billion_in_the_next_decade_says_globaldata

For the first time, a drug has a real positive impact on patients with metastatic uveal melanoma, a disease often qualified as “untreatable.”

 

The good news came from Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, whose research results were presented at the 49th annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology. Researchers found that progression-free survival in patients treated with selumetinib was nearly 16 weeks, and half of these patients experienced tumour shrinkage, with 15% achieving major shrinkage.

 

In comparison, patients treated with temozolomide, the standard chemotherapy, had seven weeks of progression-free survival and no tumour shrinkage. Selumetinib also lengthened overall survival to 10.8 months versus 9.4 months with temozolomide.

 

“This is the first study to show that a systemic therapy provides significant clinical benefit in a randomized fashion to advanced uveal melanoma patients,” said lead author Richard D. Carvajal.

Source: http://www.mskcc.org/pressroom/press/new-therapy-shown-improve-progression-free-survival-and-shrink-tumors-rare-first-time

Protection against UV rays is important all year long. However, the arrival of sunny summer days is an ideal time for eyecare professionals to remind the public of the risks of overexposure.

 

In the United States, the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) recently issued a warning, urging people to wear sunglasses and a hat when heading outside. They cite a number of studies showing that exposure to the sun’s rays can lead to cataracts, macular degeneration, and even tumours.

 

They also insist on the lesser known danger, photokeratitis, or ultraviolet keratitis, which is like a sunburn of the cornea. It generally takes one to three days to recover from photokeratitis, which is extremely painful. “In far too many cases, people think that a little redness on the skin is not a big deal; but, consider what that burn could feel like on your extremely thin and delicate corneas,” said Philip Rizzuto, secretary for communications for the AAO.  

Source: http://www.aao.org/newsroom/release/20130603.cfm

 

 

The size of retinal blood vessels may indicate brain health, which could help detect early signs of dementia and other cognitive diseases.

 

Scientist Idan Shalev of Duke University wondered whether intelligence might serve as a marker indicating the health of the brain, and specifically the health of the system of blood vessels that provides oxygen and nutrients to the brain. To investigate this idea, he used digital retinal imaging. Retinal blood vessels are similar in size to those in the brain and provide clues to brain health.

 

After testing 1,000 people, the researchers discovered that having wider retinal venules was linked with lower IQ scores at age 38. These individuals had cognitive deficits, including verbal comprehension, perceptual reasoning, working memory and executive functioning.

 

“Digital retinal imaging is a tool that is being used today mainly by eye doctors to study diseases of the eye,” said Shalev. “But our initial findings indicate that it may be a useful investigative tool for psychological scientists who want to study the link between intelligence and health across the lifespan.”

Source:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/06/130603135533.htm