The system consists of a small photovoltaic chip (similar to a solar panel) that is surgically implanted beneath the retina, and specially designed goggles equipped with a microprocessor and miniature camera. The output of the camera is displayed on a miniature LCD screen, located on the inside surface of the goggles. The screen then beams the images displayed as pulses of infra-red laser light to to photodiodes on the chip implanted in the retina, which will then send those images to the brain.

As Dr. Palanker summed up the technology: “It works like the solar panels on your roof, converting light into electric current. But instead of the current flowing to your refrigerator, it flows into your retina.”

So far the technology has been tested in rats, but the team is looking for a sponsor for human trials.

The Stanford technology differs from other retinal prosthesis technologies such as the Argus™ II Retinal Prosthesis System offered by Second Sight in that those other technologies involve more in the way of hardware such as coils or antennas being implanted in the eye, while the technology used in the light-based Stanford system is primarily located in the goggles.

Click here and here to read more about this new technology.

An initial pilot study of the device demonstrated efficacy with results presented at ARVO in May 2011 (view detailed results here).

Presently, plans are underway for expanded studies at 20 medical centers around the world to further evaluate the effectiveness and the safety of the EYEOP1 device to treat glaucoma. One recently announced such study will be conducted at the Sam Rothberg Glaucoma Center of the Goldschleger Eye Institute at Sheba Medical Center in Israel (click here to learn more about the study at this location).

The primary objective of these studies is to demonstrate reduction of baseline IOP by more than 20% in participating patients after 12 months.

To read more, please follow this link.

Bascom Palmer, one of the country’s premier eye institutes, joins UCLA’s Jules Stein Eye Institute and the Wills Eye Institute as the third U.S. site participating in the company’s Phase I/II clinical trials.

The Phase I/II trial is a prospective, open-label study designed to determine the safety and tolerability of the hESC-derived RPE cells following sub-retinal transplantation into patients with dry AMD. The trial will ultimately enroll 12 patients, with cohorts of three patients each in an ascending dosage format.

Click here to learn more about patient eligibility to participate in the trials.

To read more about the trials, please follow this link.

Treatment with LipiFlow® provided sustained improvement, on average, in both signs and symptoms.

Further, the study demonstrated the clinical utility, safety and effectiveness of LipiFlow® in adult patients with MGD and dry eye symptoms.

Click here for further details on the study.

LipiFlow®, which applies heat and gentle pressure to a patient’s eyelid, is designed to liquefy and evacuate obstructions in Meibomian glands during a 12-minute in-office procedure. The goal of unblocking the glands is to allow them to resume their natural production of lipids required for a healthy tear film. LipiFlow®’s second generation product allows physicians to treat two eyes simultaneously.

The company then announced that it had received authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for a Phase I/II clinical trial of the company’s proprietary HuCNS-SCr product candidate (purified human neural stem cells) in dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD), the most common form of AMD.

We believe that at least one of the sites for the clinical trial will be the Casey Eye Institute at Oregon Health and Science University.

To read the complete story, please follow this link.

The results have been published in the journal, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

To read the full story, please follow this link.

Dr. Jose L. Guell, MD, the leader of the study, further suggested that the high degree of control available with femtosecond lasers may enable physicians to improve the final lens position.

Meanwhile, late last month, OptiMedica Corp. announced the launch of its Catalys Precision Laser System in the United States, with the first patient cases performed by Drs. Mike and Paul Mann at the Mann Eye Institute in Houston. The system was cleared for market by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in late December 2011.

Drs. Mann are now using Catalys to perform laser capsulotomy and lens fragmentation during cataract surgery. Findings published in the peer-reviewed publications Journal of Cataract & Refractive Surgery and Science Translational Medicine have demonstrated the system’s ability to deliver industry-leading improvement in precision and accuracy across these steps, with incision accuracy results measured in tens of microns. Laser lens fragmentation with Catalys has also been shown to greatly improve the ease and gentleness of lens disassembly, reducing cumulative dissipated energy (CDE) during ultrasound phacoemulsification by approximately 40 percent.

In the January 2012 issue of the International Journal of Computer Assisted Radiology and Surgery, Japanese researchers from the School of Engineering at the University of Tokyo, reported on the results of their study to develop a microsurgical robot for vitreoretinal surgery. The goal was to demonstrate that robotics may improve vitreoretinal surgery by steadying hand motion, thereby reducing negative outcomes.

The device consisted of a slave manipulator with a tool change mechanism for switching surgical instruments. The slave manipulator is controlled by the surgeon using a master manipulator consisting of multiple joints.

The robotic system was used by a surgeon to successfully perform microcannulation on a pig’s eye.

Researchers reported that the microsurgical robotic vitreoretinal surgical system showed superior operability compared with a traditional manual procedure, and it demonstrated sufficient potential to warrant further testing in animal trials to assess its clinical feasibility.

Click here to read the abstract.

A new start-up company is looking into the possibility of certain compounds that appear to boost mitochondrial function to provide “energy” to “reduced capacity” mitochondria in retinal cells that are possibly at the root of retinal degenerations in such diseases as retinitis pigmentosa and macular degeneration.

Two scientists, Drs. Rohrer and Beeson, of the Ophthalmology department at the Medical University of South Carolina have started a new company, MitoChem Therapeutics, that has just received $2 million from the Foundation Fighting Blindness to do just that. After screening a library of 50,000 drug compounds, they have apparently identified three compounds that appear to boost mitochondrial function, and will now attempt to identify which one will work best in people as an eye drop, and move it into a clinical trial.

To read more, please follow this link.