Research on vision loss has always focused heavily on biochemical processes. However, two Swedish researchers are now stressing the importance of biomechanical processes.

 

“We have not previously understood the mechanisms behind glaucoma and retinal detachment, but we knew that these diseases had a strong mechanical component,” explained researchers Fredrik Ghosh and Linnéa Taylor at the Lund University. “Our findings could form an initial explanation as to why we develop these diseases.”

 

The researchers used technological innovations to grow retinal tissue from pigs in a mechanical state similar to that present in the living eye. This allowed them to perform longer studies before the retina lost its structure and the cells died.

 

“This gives us new tools to understand in a more concrete manner how biomechanical factors in the central nervous system influence the health of cells when we are healthy and when we suffer from diseases,” said the researchers.

 

The results show that when the biomechanical balance is disturbed, as happens in glaucoma and retinal detachment, the normal function of the retina is lost, resulting in serious vision loss.

 

Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/04/130403104102.htm

 

Essilor International recently signed a global license agreement with High Performance Optics (HPO), a U.S. company that develops technology to protect the retina from blue light.

 

Until now, the two companies have been working independently to develop lenses that can filter blue light, which is emitted in large quantities from devices such as computer screens, mobile phones, digital tablets, and LED televisions. The partnership should allow for the exploitation and adoption of the technology around the world and speed its availability to the global population. The agreement does not, however, extend to Crizal Prevencia, a lens that filters blue light, which Essilor intends to launch later in the year.

 

Very pleased with the new partnership, HPO president Mike Packard stressed the importance of this type of lens in preventing diseases like AMD. “While there are multiple factors that contribute to AMD, reducing the chances of others suffering from AMD and / or the severity of this disease has been a key goal of HPO’s for many years,” he explained. “This is most gratifying to me personally.”

Sources: http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/high-performance-optics-licenses-essilor-201247771.html

http://www.visionmonday.com/ViewContent/tabid/211/content_id/40087/catId/103/Default.aspx

Drugs prescribed to lower cholesterol may be effective against macular degeneration.

 

Researchers at Washington University in St. Louis have found that patients with AMD and those with atherosclerosis share an inability to get rid of fat and cholesterol. In patients with the “dry” form of AMD, lipid deposits accumulate behind the retina. As they grow and multiply, they begin to destroy the central part of the eye, interfering with vision.

 

As we age, our macrophages, the immune cells that destroy cholesterol and fat, begin to malfunction. They can even become bloated with cholesterol, causing inflammation, which triggers vascularization. Those vessels characterize the “wet” form of AMD.

 

The researchers treated the macrophages of mice with a substance that helped restore levels of ABCA1, a protein that macrophages need to do their job. The macular degeneration process was reversed.

 

“Some of the therapies already being used to treat atherosclerosis target this same pathway, so we may be able to modify drugs that already are available and use them to deliver treatment to the eye,” says lead researcher Rajendra S. Apte.

Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/04/130402124648.htm

A new screen protector will soon make it possible to view 3D content on mobile phones, without the help of 3D glasses.

 

The screen protector is in fact a nano-engineered plastic film, jointly developed by Temasek Polytechnic (TP) and A*STAR’s Institute of Materials Research and Engineering (IMRE) and marketed by Nanoveu Pte Ltd. Users may be able to say good-bye to 3D glasses. Measuring less than 0.1 mm in thickness, it is the first accessory that can display content in both portrait and landscape mode, without special glasses.

 

“The filter is essentially a piece of plastic film with about half a million perfectly shaped lenses engineered onto its surface using IMRE’s proprietary nanoimprinting technology,” said Dr. Jaslyn Law, one of the scientists who developed it. To complement the filter, the team developed applications for two software platforms, Apple iOS and Android, which allow users to play 3D content. The applications also allow 2D pictures to be converted into 3D.

 

The team will take it a step further by releasing a platform for developers to convert 2D games into 3D versions.

Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/04/130402090718.htm

Did primates develop three-colour vision because they began to live in the day or did they begin to live in the day due to the appearance of this trait? A small animal with bulging eyes – the tarsier – may hold the answer to this question.

 

American scientists analyzed the genes that encode photopigments in the eye of the tarsier, a small primate that branched off early on from monkeys, apes, and humans. They showed that the last common ancestor of living tarsiers had three-colour vision similar to that of monkeys and apes. However, they had enlarged eyes, suggesting they were active at night.

 

According to the researchers, this shows that tarsiers first adapted to dim light levels, such as twilight or the full moon. These light conditions were dark enough to favour large eyes but still bright enough to support trichromatic colour vision. This compromise would have helped the primates switch to daytime living, which allowed them to better see their prey, their predators, and other primates and to expand their territory.

 

Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/03/130327132537.htm