As noted by both Drs. Phil Rosenfeld and Carmen Puliafito, who have used the new software, this new diagnostic tool will play an important role in assessing and speeding the development of  new treatments for both dry and wet AMD, that are being researched and brought to the market.

To read the full story, please follow this link.

First, the company said that a peer-reviewed publication of clinical results from its first patients treated at UCLA Jules Stein Eye Institute had been published online by the UK’s The Lancet. The study reported on the four-month results of a safety study initiated in human patients last July. In that study, one eye of a patient with Stargardt’s macular dystrophy (SMD), and another with the dry form of AMD were given doses of human embryonic stem cell-derived retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells. After four months, no safety problems had been observed and vision improvements were noted in both patients.

The second event was the announcement that the first patient had been treated with stem cells in the UK arm of the Stargardt’s study, at Moorfields Eye Hospital on January 20th.

For the whole story, please follow this link.

I have put together a table in which I list the fourteen clinical trials that I know about in the use of gene therapy in treating ophthalmic disease. Half of the trials are aimed at treating Leber’s Congenital Amaurosis (LCA), while three are for treating the wet form of AMD; one is underway for treating Choroideremia; one for Stargardt’s Disease; and two are aimed at different forms of retinitis pigmentosa (Autosomal Recessive RP and Usher Syndrome 1b).

In addition, I show at least twenty four clinical trials in either the pre-clinical (animal study) mode, or a couple in the IND-preparation mode. That is close to forty clinical trials using gene therapy to treat ophthalmic diseases.

To read more about this important method for treating ophthalmic diseases, please follow this link.

The first two patients have received embryonic stem cell derived retinal pigment epithelial cells (hESC-derived RPE) and  the company has been authorized to treat the next two patients in the UCLA study, while the first patient will be treated in the UK study in the upcoming week(s), while additional patients will be treated at UCLA in the same time frame.

To read more about these groundbreaking studies please follow this link.

But is it superior to a traditional trabeculectomy?

In a recent study, trabeculectomy delivered a better IOP (10) than Trabectome (16) with better success rate (76 vs. 22%).

My take is that if your patient has only mild-moderate glaucoma, chances are an IOP of 15 is pretty good. Also, you can always do trab later- so you have nothing to lose (especially if you are in the eye anyway doing phaco).

Researchers believe that their targeted, sustained release drug approach can be used to treat both age-related macular degeneration and retinitis pigmentosa. Both conditions are caused by neuroinflammation, which was relieved by the drug delivery system the researchers developed.

To learn more, click here to read the announcement issued by the Mayo Clinic, which includes a video by one of the researchers explaining the technique.

Click here to read an abstract of the research published in the Biomaterials journal

The BrainPort vision device is an investigational non-surgical assistive visual prosthetic device that translates information from a digital video camera to users’ tongues, through gentle electrical stimulation. Users often report the sensation as pictures that are painted on the tongue with champagne bubbles.

With the current system, device users have been able to recognize high-contrast objects, their location, movement, and some aspects of perspective and depth. Trained blind participants use information from the tongue display to augment understanding of their environment.

Click here for further details about the clinical study.

Click here for further details about BrainPort vision technology.

The article first discussed technology available from Retina Implant, AG, which recently got approval to extend the yearlong phase II human clinical trial of its retinal implant to additional European locations. It also struck a deal with Wills Eye Institute to undertake a clinical trial of its retinal implant technology in the United States.

The Retina Implant AG technology consists of a tiny microelectronic chip (0.1-millimeter thick), containing about 1,500 light-sensitive photodiodes, amplifiers and electrodes surgically inserted beneath the fovea (which contains the cone cells) in the retina’s macula region. The implanted chip helps generate at least partial vision by stimulating intact nerve cells in the retina. The nervous impulses from these cells are then led via the optic nerve to the visual cortex where they finally lead to impressions of sight.

Another technology discussed was the Argus II Retinal Prosthesis System from Second Sight Medical Products, which is already approved for sale in Europe, and is currently undergoing FDA human clinical trials (expected to conclude in July 2014). Second Sight’s technology converts video images captured by a miniature camera—housed in a special pair of glasses worn by the patient—into a series of small electrical pulses transmitted wirelessly to an array of electrodes implanted on the retina’s surface. These pulses are intended to stimulate the retina’s remaining cells and create the perception of patterns of light in the brain.

Click here for the full article discussing these and other new technologies for treating retinitis pigmentosa.