By Staff
Wednesday, November 14, 2018 12:15 AM
CHICAGO—
Prevent Blindness is seeking nominations for the
2019 Jenny Pomeroy Award for Excellence in Vision and Public Health. The award will recognize an individual, team, or organization that has made an outstanding contribution to the field of public health, as well as to vision and eye health worldwide, according to a release from Prevent Blindness. The deadline for submissions is Dec.13, 2018. President and CEO of Prevent Blindness, Jeff Todd, said “Promoting new and innovative approaches to vision and eye health challenges is essential to our mission of preventing blindness and preserving sight.
By Staff
Tuesday, November 13, 2018 12:24 AM
SINGAPORE—The
Singapore National Eye Centre (SNEC), the
Singapore Eye Research Institute (SERI) and
Johnson & Johnson Vision have announced a $26 million research collaboration to tackle myopia, the largest threat to eye health this century, according to an announcement on Monday. By 2050, half of the world's population is projected to be myopic, with 1 billion expected to have high myopia, a severe state of the condition that can lead to retinal disease with an increased risk of blindness, the announcement noted.
By Staff
Wednesday, November 7, 2018 12:15 AM
MANALAPAN, N.J—The
Neuro-Optometric Rehabilitation Association (NORA) and
Concussion Legacy Foundation (CLF), have developed a new educational resource titled Common Vision Problems & Symptoms Following a Concussion. According to a release from NORA, the resource will be available on NORA’s Patient Caregivers Resource
page and CLF’s Post-Concussion Syndrome (PCS) Resources
page. “Some concussion symptoms may only last a short period of time, while others can linger for months or even years, becoming Post-Concussion Syndrome and adversely affecting the way a person functions in their activities of daily living,” said co-founder and medical director of CLF, Robert Cantu, MD.
By Staff
Tuesday, November 6, 2018 12:24 AM
CHICAGO—
Prevent Blindness, the nation’s oldest volunteer eye health and safety organization, has announced that Paul Delatore, global head, market access at
Alcon, Jim McGrann, chairman and chief executive officer of
Healthy Eyes Advantage, and Rajeev S. Ramchandran, MD, associate professor of Ophthalmology in the
University of Rochester Medical School’s Department of Ophthalmology, have been elected to the organization’s board of directors. The vote was held Nov. 2 at the 2018 Prevent Blindness annual board meeting in Chicago.
By Staff
Tuesday, November 6, 2018 12:18 AM
NEW YORK—
CB Insights, a New York-based market research firm, has released a new report, Disrupting Eye Healthcare. Geared for investors in health care technology, the report examines how emerging companies are offering new, and often less invasive treatments, for common eye diseases like glaucoma, as well as reimagining existing technologies as simple as eye drops. “CB Insights uses software and research to provide health care clients with evidence-based insights into industry trends,” said Marc Albanese, CB Insights director of health care research and former chief operating officer vision care startup
Smart Vision Labs.
By Staff
Wednesday, October 31, 2018 12:18 AM
DUNFERMLINE, Scotland—
Optos, a subsidiary of Nikon Corp., and
Amydis have formed a clinical alliance to develop an eye test by Amydis to detect Alzheimer’s disease. Amydis has developed a pipeline of compounds to detect amyloid proteins in the retina to be visualized with Optos’ optomap ultra-widefield retinal imaging devices to diagnose Alzheimer’s Disease in patients. The compounds bind to specific biomarkers in the retina and fluoresce, making them visible with an optomap retinal camera.
By Staff
Tuesday, October 16, 2018 12:15 AM
CHICAGO—
Altris.AI has signed an agreement with
Huvitz Co., Ltd. aimed at the development of customized deep learning solutions for retinal diseases detection unique for the Huvitz HOCT-1/1F device, an “all-in-one, PC-integrated 3D optical coherence tomography (OCT) and fundus camera. Altris.AI’s OCT and fundus algorithms have been trained using anonymized OCT retinal scans as well as fundus images collected during more than 12 years, and are able to detect more than 50 retinal diseases and conditions, the company said in a statement.
By Staff
Thursday, October 4, 2018 12:18 AM
SAN RAFAEL, California—
RestoringVision, the optical 501(c)(3)non-profit organization that has provided the gift of sight to over 12 million people in 135 impoverished countries, celebrated 15 years of business on Oct. 2. Through more than 1,400 organizations, non-profit partners, corporate sponsors, individual donors and supporters, RestoringVision plans to help 20 million people by 2020 through their distribution of new reading glasses for the disadvantaged around the world. RestoringVision was founded by Mark Sachs in 2003. He was inspired to start RestoringVision after “a life changing experience” with
LensCrafters in Mexico where people with impaired vision travel miles to seek clinical help.
By Staff
Wednesday, October 3, 2018 12:24 AM
CHICAGO—
Prevent Blindness has declared the month of October “Contact Lens Safety Awareness Month” and the organization is taking steps to educate the public in the best possible ways to care for their eyes through the safe use and care of contact lenses. With Halloween coming at the end of the month, colored contact lenses have become a popular new trend to add to one’s costume, but they should only be administered through an eyecare professional, Prevent Blindness said.
By Staff
Tuesday, October 2, 2018 12:18 AM
MINNETONKA, Minn.—According to a new
UnitedHealthcare survey, an unprecedented number of Americans with health benefits say they are prepared for open enrollment, while an increasing number of people are using online resources to research health symptoms and comparison shop for care. These are among the findings from the third-annual
UnitedHealthcare Consumer Sentiment Survey, which examines Americans’ attitudes and opinions about multiple areas of health care, including open enrollment preparedness, technology trends and quality and cost transparency.
By Staff
Thursday, September 20, 2018 12:24 AM
LOS ANGELES—
The National Institute of Health (NIH) is supporting
Second Sight Medical Products, Inc. (NASDAQ: EYES), developer and manufacturer of implantable visual prosthetics for the visually impaired, with a $1.6 million grant to fund the “Early Feasibility Clinical Trial of a Visual Cortical Prosthesis” which began January 2018. According to statements issued by both NIH and Second Sight, the grant will also have an intent to further fund $6.3 million over the next five years and is subject to annual review and approval by the NIH.
By Staff
Monday, September 17, 2018 12:15 AM
RANCHO CORDOVA, Calif.—
VSP Global, which in July announced it was doubling its commitment to provide no-cost eyecare to children and adults in need around the globe, is adding a new clinic to its Eyes of Hope mobile fleet later this year. As it expands the fleet’s operations, VSP also has launched a contest that allows people to vote on a name for the new mobile clinic. The existing mobile fleet, which operate under the Eyes of Hope banner, includes the vehicles SeeZar, SeeLia and Eyenstein.
By Staff
Thursday, September 13, 2018 12:15 AM
Alexandria, Va.—
Think About Your Eyes, a national public awareness campaign about the importance of scheduling an annual eye exam with an optometrist, has announced the results of its back-to-school marketing campaign, which has yielded more than 130 million media impressions, or exposures to the TAYE messaging, according to an announcement from the organization.
By Staff
Friday, September 7, 2018 12:24 AM
CHICAGO—
Opternative is launching a voice-activated version of its online vision test. Users can now renew their prescription online using only a mobile device, even if their prescription has changed.
By Staff
Thursday, September 6, 2018 12:24 AM
WASHINGTON, D.C.—In late August, the U.S. Senate passed an appropriations bill that, among other actions, calls for increased vigilance for eye health and safety. The House had previously approved the legislation,
H.R. 6157, which is the third fiscal 2019 minibus appropriations bill approved by the Senate. The bill calls for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to examine eye health research findings to increase patients’ vision safety and to update its reports on the burdens of keratitis—inflammation of clear tissue on the front of the cornea—and contact lens-related infections, according to the
Health Care Alliance for Patient Safety. The Alliance, in a recent statement, acknowledged the efforts of Congress in passing the bill and the legislation’s corresponding support of eye and vision safety.