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macular degeneration

Can Billions of Tiny Gold Flecks Help Restore Vision?

Scientists have come up with an extraordinary treatment for blindness that involves injecting 10 billion small flecks of gold into each eyeball.

Experiments on mice showed the new technique effectively restored sight in mice with macular degeneration, a leading cause of blindness. It will now be tested on humans in a huge clinical trial.

“We are very excited indeed by our findings,” said Daniel Hillier, of the German Primate Center in Göttingen.

“We believe that near-infrared stimulation is an important step towards providing useful vision to blind patients so that they can regain their ability to read or see faces,” said Dr Hillier. read more

ThirdEye Partners with NuEyes to Launch the Next Generation Smart Glasses

ThirdEye, a leader in augmented reality (AR) and mixed reality (MR) enterprise solutions recently announced a new partnership with NuEyes, a pioneer in the field of low-vision technology.

With this partnership, NuEyes is introducing the Pro 2, which uses ThirdEye’s lightweight X2 MR Glasses to assist people with vision loss.

By running NuEyes’ patented software on the X2 MR Glasses, people with visual impairments that cannot be cured by surgery or use conventional glasses, such as macular degeneration, glaucoma and retinitis pigmentosa, can now use the latest in augmented reality smart glasses technology to improve their daily lives. The X2 MR Glasses combined with NuEyes’ software provides a simple user experience with built-in voice controls being a central part of the interface. Wearers can use voice commands to magnify objects near and far, change contrast, and have optical character recognition. read more

Sony Partners with GiveVision to Create Compact Glasses for Visually Impaired Users

For people with low vision, simply being able to see the real world is a huge step forward — and one U.K. GiveVision will address with new AR-like glasses that are more comfortable and socially acceptable than prior options.

Having previously released a VR goggles-style wearable called SightPlus, GiveVision has designed SightPlus 2 (also called SightPlus Generation 2) to resemble early AR glasses — smaller, lighter in weight, and akin to boxy sunglasses. They use what the company describes as a combination of VR and AR to simulate human vision with an over 100-degree field of view “in near real time.” The company is working with Sony to develop and manufacture the lightweight wearable, going so far as to relocate its design office to a Sony UK facility in South Wales. read more

Comcast Partners with NuEyes to Offer TV for Visually Impaired Customers

Comcast is partnering with wearable technology startup NuEyes to offer its Xfinity Stream app to visually impaired customers through NuEyes’ virtual reality technology.

The Xfinity Stream app now comes pre-installed on the NuEyes e2 smart-glasses and VR magnifying device that’s designed to enhance the usable vision of a person who is visually impaired due to conditions like macular degeneration, glaucoma, and retinitis pigmentosa.

“Being blind since birth, I know firsthand the power of technology to enhance independence,” said Tom Wlodkowski, vice president of accessibility at Comcast, in a statement. “Our partnership with NuEyes is an extension of our commitment to designing great entertainment experiences for people of all abilities.” read more

This bionic Eye System Restored Vision in Clinical Trials

There are currently clinical trials of smart glasses designed to help vision impaired people to see and read letters again in the United States.

The “bionic eye” technology is made by a Paris-based biotech firm called Pixium Vision. It consists of a visor-like pair of glasses featuring an embedded camera. Images captured by the camera are beamed to a microchip implanted in the wearer’s retina. This signal is then converted into electrical signals that can be understood by the brain.

Participants in the trial had no central vision prior to the microchips being implanted. One year after the chips were implanted, the majority have regained the ability to read to some extent. Some can read only individual letters, while others are able to read sequences of letters. The image created by the implant is just 378 pixels in total. While this is far from restoring a person’s vision to 20/20, it nonetheless represents a significant improvement. read more

Scientists Think There’s an Answer to Treating Blindness According to a New Study

Scientists from the University of Surrey and the Indiana University School of Medicine think they could have the answer to treating several causes of blindness, according to a ground-breaking new study.

The researchers have found and tested compounds from a group of plants that could possibly be used to treat the causes of degenerative eye diseases, such as proliferative diabetic retinopathy.

This abnormal growth of new blood vessel cells in the eye is linked to a number of types of blindness, including in premature babies (retinopathy of prematurity), diabetics (proliferative diabetic retinopathy) and older adults (wet age-related macular degeneration). read more

New Laser-Based Technique Allows 3D images of the Eye

Scientists have developed a laser-based technique that can produce a full 3D image of all the layers of the retina, allowing doctors to better diagnose and treat eye diseases such as cataracts, diabetic retinopathy, and cancer.

It will enable medics to take an image of the eye ten times faster and over ten times longer range than ever before, dramatically improving their ability to assess the condition of the eye and to ensure that nothing is overlooked.

Today, more than 10% of the world’s population over the age of 60 has age-related macular degeneration which causes vision loss and leads to blindness. According to the World Health Organization (WHO): “285 million people worldwide are visually impaired: 39 million are blind, and 246 million have low vision. 80% of all visual impairment can be avoided or cured”. Early diagnosis and follow-up treatments are necessary to prevent eye diseases from turning into blindness. read more

Blind Patients Have Vision Restored with Stem Cells From Deceased Organ Donors

Blind people around the world could have their vision actually restored using stem cells taken from the eyes of non-living donors, according to new research from Scotland.

Thanks to the pioneering tissue transplant, eight patients with a common condition that destroys vision have had the affected area repaired—and two were able to read again after having severe macular degeneration.

The revolutionary treatment may lead to a cure for blindness caused by damage to the cornea, the protective surface of the eye. It often becomes clouded in older people through injury or infection. In more underdeveloped countries, children and younger people are also increasingly prone. read more

New Laser Technology Could Treat Eye Diseases Like Macular Degeneration and Glaucoma

A platform that combines cutting-edge diagnostic tools and ultra-fast laser technology developed at the University of Alberta could usher in a new era of non-invasive medical interventions for eye diseases.

Nir Katchinskiy, a U of A research associate who just completed his PhD in electrical engineering, recently launched a startup called PulseMedica to usher femtosecond lasers—which emit optical pulses lasting only one-quadrillionth of a second each—through testing and approval stages.

He said the speed and accuracy afforded by the lasers make them ideal for treating eye diseases ranging from age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and glaucoma to retinoblastoma, while minimizing damage to healthy tissue. read more

eSight Drops Price by 40 Percent

eSight, the makers of the eSight electronic glasses, is permanently dropping the pricing of its eSight glasses from $10,000 USD to $5,950 USD.

The eSight glasses are specifically designed for users with low vision to the point of being legally blind, without hindering mobility. The 40 per cent price drop will make them accessible to even more people.

The glasses work similar to augmented reality (AR) glasses. A small camera at the front of the glass captures the scene, and an onboard computer enhances the image in real-time and delivers a stream to two monitors inside the glasses. Unlike VR/AR headsets, however, the eSight electronic glasses don’t cover the wearer’s peripheral vision. read more

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