Dr. Grossman’s Blog

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Functional MRI technology is helping us understand how colored lenses can help migraine sufferers.

The research, published in the journal Cephalalgia, shows that looking at the world through tinted glasses can help normalize activity in the brain.  Migraine sufferers experience abnormal brain activity when looking at intense patters, but the tinted lenses reduced the phenomenon called hyperactivation.  This study built on previous work that found that 42% of migraine patients who see auras experienced a significant decrease in symptoms when they wore precision ophthalmic tints.

Source: May 26, 2011 Cephalalgia, Medical News Today

Visit our website for self-help tips for dealing with migraines.

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An implanted microchip placed beneath the retina of the eye has enabled blind people to see again.

In a paper published in The Procedings of the Royal Society B researchers describe how three patients suffering from hereditary retinal dystrophy regained the ability to identify objects and people and even read words printed in large letters.  The technology involves that natural projection of images through the eye’s lens onto a chip placed under the transparent retina.

Source: http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/early/2010/11/01/rspb.2010.1747.abstract

This technology could change the lives of those suffering from retinitis pigmentosa. While we wait to see where science can take us, have a look at our prevention tips and natural treatment suggestions for retinitis pigmentosa.

Amblyopia or “lazy eye” can lead to vision loss in a person’s weaker eye if it goes untreated.  Luckily, if amblyopia is diagnosed and worked on before age seven, more than three quarters of children can achieve at least 23/30 vision.

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Because there are concerns that caregivers can miss the signs of amblyopia, experts are looking into a better way to diagnose the problem.

A program in Iowa sponsored by he University of Iowa and the Iowa Lions Clubs worked together over the last decade to screen almost 150,000 children using technology called the PhotoScreener.  According to the source of this story, MedicalNewsToday.com, this device “records the pattern of light reflected through each of the child’s pupils as the child’s eyes are photographed.”

The PhotoScreener is also helpful in finding such conditions as  unequal visual acuity between the two eyes (anisometropia), high nearsightedness, high farsightedness, astigmatism, and strabismus.

For more on ways that Vision Therapy can help amblyopia and other eye convergence problems, please visit our website.

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Early diagnosis is key to dealing effectively with eye diseases, especially diabetic retinopathy, macular degeneration, and glaucoma.

Researchers from around the country are working together to adapt the technologies that allow astronomers to observe distant galleries so that eye doctors can better examine the retina even through imperfections on the lens and cornea.  These adaptive optics–optical coherence tomography (AO-OCT) systems could be the wave of the future for eye disease diagnosis.

Read more about this technology at Scientific American.

Learn more about how to prevent eye disease at our website.

Often, patients suffering from macular degeneration will use a different part of their retinas to make up for central vision loss. According to researchers from Georgia Tech’s School of Psychology, the brains macular degeneration patients can also compensate to vision changes by reorganizing their neural connections.

Using functional MRI technology, researchers found that even though study participants were relying on their peripheral vision rather than their central vision, the brain was actually processing information as if the patients had normal, unimpeded vision.

Study leader Eric Schumacher told Science Daily: “Our results show that the patient’s behavior may be critical to get the brain to reorganize in response to disease.  It’s not enough to lose input to a brain region for that region to reorganize; the change in the patient’s behavior also matters.”  This “behavior change” is the macular degeneration patient’s ability to compensate for central vision loss by relying on other areas of the visual field.

Source: EyeWorld News Magazine

Visit our website for self help tips specifically for macular degeneration sufferers.

Pfc. Crystal M. O'Neal, 2HBCT Public Affairs, courtesy US Government

Scientists have found a new way to screen patients for common eye diseases using LED technology.  An article in Review of Scientific Instruments describes the new system which uses six different wavelengths of light to illuminate the eyeball.

Using light-absorbing compounds already present in the eye, researchers are finding a way to capture better diagnostic images by working with the way different pigments appear in multispectral images.  One advantage of this new diagnostic procedure is its speed – it can capture images quickly enough to avoid distortion caused by natural eye movements.

It is hoped that this technology can be developed further and be made widely available to optometrists and opthamologists seeking the best diagnostic tool for their patients when screening for such eye diseases as macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy.

Source: scienceblog.com

Photo by Scott Bauer, USDA

Researchers have implanted corneas made of genetically engineered collagen in patients for the first time.  Potentially, the millions of people on the waiting list for corneas from human donors could experience restored sight with these implants made from human genes and specialized yeast cells.

Ten patients in Sweden had the genetically engineered corneas inserted two years ago; the vision of six of the ten has improved. None of the patients experienced graft rejection or required long-term immune suppression, both of which can be factors for patients who receive corneas from human donors.

Study authors are optimistic about the development of biosynthetic corneas, but say that the technology is not fully mature.  Right now, the lab-made material is very fragile making it appropriate for patients with surface corneal damage but not those with damage to the innermost layers of the cornea.

This study was published in Science Translational Medicine, Aug. 25, 2010; vol 2. Source: http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=119207

RELATED: Scientist have also worked to transplant retinal tissue using stem cells.

photo by Steve Jurvetson

Eye Tech Care, a French company, is testing a new way to treat glaucoma using ultrasound technology. The device would treat the cilliary body (the part of the eye that produces humour, the watery fluid that fills the front part of the eye) in order to decrease the amount of fluid in the eye, and, by extension, reduce the intraocular pressure within the eye.

The device has only been tested on twelve patients suffering from the rare refractory glaucoma, but if trials are successful they may begin testing it on the more common open angle glaucoma.  About 25 years ago researchers tried to use ultrasound technology to treat animals, but the technology of the time was too limited.

According to the International Glaucoma Association, which reported on this new development, ultrasound treatment for glaucoma would be quicker and less invasive than the current Argon laser procedures currently used to treat the disease.

Learn more about the causes and treatment of glaucoma.

When LA graffiti writer, publisher and activist, named Tony Quan developed ALS, a disease of the nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord that control voluntary muscle movement also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease, he was left almost completely paralyzed. One part of his body that still enjoyed movement? His eyes.

Several groups have teamed up to design and build a low-cost, open source eye-tracking system that will allow ALS patients to draw using just their eyes. They call the device The EyeWriter, a pair of specifically designed eyeglasses hooked up to a computer that work together to translate eye movement into digital brush strokes.

Source: The EyeWriter Initiative.

Researchers at Tennessee’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory have announced that they have developed a machine that allows early diagnosis and treatment of diabetic retinopathy.  The Telemedical Retinal Image Analysis and Diagnosis technology, known as TRIAD is meant to make it possible to screen for the disease at doctor’s offices. (Source: http://www.upi.com/Science_News/2010/05/11/Triad-screens-for-diabetic-retinopathy/UPI-48161273589392/)

Diabetes related blindness is largely preventable if patient and the medical team work together diligently. With timely treatment, 90 percent of those with advanced diabetic retinopathy can be saved from going blind.  Learn more at:http://www.naturaleyecare.com/diseases.asp?d_num=4