Week in Review: Collagen-Based Bandage Contact Lens, Glucose Monitoring and Diabetic Retinopathy, Ophthalmoscopy Training for Neurologists

A weekly roundup of ophthalmic news from around the web.

Contact lenses as a bandage and drug delivery system? Researchers at the University of Waterloo have developed a prototype collagen-based bandage contact lens designed to help corneal abrasions heal. The gelatin in the lens, which holds a controlled dose of medication, degrades when exposed to matrix metalloproteinase enzymes, releasing the medication into the eye. Complete healing of the abrasions was noted within 5 days of the patient first starting to wear the lens. Further refinement of the lens material and additional studies are planned. University of Waterloo; Pharmaceutics

Continuous glucose monitoring may help stave off diabetic retinopathy. A longitudinal study using EHR data assessed the effect of continuous glucose monitoring (CGM), use of an insulin pump, or both on development of diabetic retinopathy (DR) or proliferative DR (PDR). Of 624 patients with type 1 diabetes without DR/PDR at baseline, 44% developed DR over the study period. A univariate analysis showed that CGM use alone was correlated with lower odds of DR or PDR development; CGM + insulin pump use was only correlated with lower odds of PDR. The beneficial effects of CGM use were maintained after adjustment for age, sex, race, and other variables. The authors recommend conducting studies that focus more on CGM-specific parameters (e.g., glycemic variability and time in range) as well as hybrid closed-loop insulin systems. JAMA Network Open

Neurology residents would benefit from comprehensive direct ophthalmoscopy training, according to results from a needs assessment questionnaire sent to US neurology residents (n = 74 respondents) and residency program directors (n = 19 respondents). While most of the residents said they had received direct ophthalmoscopy (DO) training during medical school, only 19% said that it was mostly or somewhat sufficient. Meanwhile, expectations of the program directors regarding DO performance and unsupervised DO practice were significantly higher than residents’ actual experiences. All of the program directors and 97% of residents felt that DO training was an essential skill for neurology residents to learn. These findings may be useful for neurology training programs when they are updating their curricula. BMC Medical Education