News

Kowa Optimed and EMRlogic Systems Inc. have integrated an e-prescribing solution (DrFirst Rcopia) into proprietary electronic medical record (EMR) management software (activEHR).

An osmolarity system (TearLab, TearLab Corp.) is now available in the United States at the point of care, thanks to a partnership between its manufacturer and COLA, a private, non-profit clinical laboratory education, consultation, and accreditation organization.

Advance Optical, Rochester, NY, and 21st Century Optics, Long Island City, NY, have been named by Transitions Optical Inc. as recipients of the 2010 Transitions Partner Labs Most Valuable Partner (MVP) Lab of the Year Award. Advance Optical received the award in the small/medium lab division; 21st Century Optics received the award in the large lab division.

Richard L. Abbott, MD, began his term as president of the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) Jan. 1. Dr. Abbott is the Thomas W. Boyden Health Sciences Clinical Professor of Ophthalmology at the University of California, San Francisco, and research associate at the Francis I. Proctor Foundation. He succeeded Randy Johnston, MD, as AAO president.

Medical device company Vycor Medical Inc. has acquired NovaVision Inc., a provider of technologies designed to reverse and restore neurological visual loss. Together the companies will promote NovaVision?s FDA-approved, non-invasive light stimulation-based platform (Vision Restoration Therapy [VRT])?clinically proven to permanently restore lost vision resulting from stroke, brain cancer, and traumatic or other acquired brain injury.

A new eyewear collection for men (Surface, REM Eyewear) recently was unveiled.

Ranibizumab (Lucentis) is now available in the United Kingdom for the treatment of visual impairment due to diabetic macular edema, announced Novartis Pharmaceuticals UK Ltd.

A home test for glaucoma has been developed by a University of Arizona (UA) engineer and a Phoenix ophthalmologist with funding from the National Science Foundation. The two now are seeking investors to help fund final development and commercialization of the product.

Use of a proprietary femtosecond laser system for lens fragmentation significantly reduces the amount of ultrasound energy needed for phacoemulsification, although the effect varies depending on the choice of fragmentation algorithm, according to new research.

Alimera Sciences is preparing additional safety and efficacy data for the FDA on its investigational sustained drug-delivery system, fluocinolone acetonide intravitreal insert, a potential DME treatment.

The ability of a proprietary femtosecond laser system to create a perfectly centered, sized, and circular capsulotomy has been shown in a clinical study to translate into the benefit of reduced variability in effective lens position.

Recurrent corneal erosions are common, however, ophthalmologists may not always be aware of them.

The questions surrounding idiopathic macular telangiectasia type 2, a disease that occurs more often than thought, is more severe than thought, and has confirmed systemic associations, slowly are being answered as a result of a new project.

Results of a fellow-eye comparative study show the benefit of an investigational femtosecond laser-assisted cataract surgery system for significantly improving the reproducibility of capsulotomy size and shape when compared with capsulorhexis performed manually by experienced surgeons.

The standard for every practice should be to present all patients who wear spectacle lenses with two first-pair options.

Both a non-preserved artificial tear containing carboxymethylcellulose 0.5% and cyclosporine ophthalmic emulsion 0.05% are viable options for minimizing dry eye-related discomfort post cataract surgery in "average patients."

A proprietary phaco platform with transversal ultrasound technology has advanced cataract surgery to a new level of safety and efficiency.

A high-powered examination of the effect of an ultrasound probe in the eye during phacoemulsification found among other things that irrigation streams during phaco add a weak repulsive force and that streaming during high-powered longitudinal phaco may also contribute to the phaco effect.

Author Rhonda Fischer wrote her children's book "Randy Kazandy, where are your glasses?" to share a family story and entertain children.

The combination of 1.8-mm coaxial microincision cataract surgery, proper wound construction, and attention to other elements of a surgical technique aiming to maintain chamber stability allows safe and effective cataract surgery in eyes with IFIS without the need for pupil expansion.

Physically active patients who are looking to enhance the enjoyment of their favorite outdoor activity will test your knowledge of performance-specific sunwear.

When failure of the tear pump upsets the dynamic equilibrium between tear production and tear loss, resulting in tearing, numerous options for correction are available.

A typical ophthalmologist or other adult human being is composed of about 100 trillion cells.

Results of a recent study examining adult autopsy globes show that implants fabricated from hydrophobic acrylic material are associated with a much higher rate of posterior capsule opacification than previously thought.

STAAR Surgical said that more than 200,000 of its implantable contact lenses (Visian Implantable Collamer Lens) have been implanted in patients worldwide.

PanOptica Inc. has raised $30 million in financing, coinciding with the company?s successful licensing of exclusive worldwide ophthalmic rights to a selective inhibitor of vascular endothelial growth factor (PAN-90806, OSI Pharmaceuticals) in exchange for up-front cash, equity interest in PanOptica, and potential future milestones and royalties.

Pfizer has obtained an exclusive option for a worldwide license to develop and commercialize Lpath Inc.?s lead monoclonal antibody product candidate (iSONEP), which is being evaluated for the treatment of wet age-related macular degeneration and other eye disorders.

The National Eye Institute has awarded $10.1 million to the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine to research and develop new treatments for retinal diseases.

The merger of Alcon Inc. and Novartis AG is expected to be completed during the first half of this year after it was announced that the companies have entered into an agreement whereby Novartis will pay $168 per share for the Alcon shares it currently does not own.

The FDA has requested additional information to aid in its decision of whether to approve a new drug application for an investigational fluocinolone acetonide intravitreal insert (Iluvien, Alimera Sciences) for the treatment of diabetic macular edema.