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  • Week in review: Second chance, exhaust pipe, may I help you?

    By Anni Delfaro
    Comprehensive Ophthalmology, Cornea/External Disease, Retina/Vitreous
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    A weekly roundup of ophthalmic news from around the web.

    Life looks particularly poignant through the eyes of someone whose vision has been restored. This begonia (above), photographed by a woman with Fuch’s dystrophy, hangs in an annual exhibit of photographs taken by donor cornea recipients. The Circle of Light exhibit is sponsored by the Rocky Mountain Lions Eye Bank and installed at the RedLine Contemporary Art Center in Denver. Image courtesy of Jan Hepp-Struck and the Rocky Mountain Lions Eye Bank. CBS News

    A Taiwanese study suggests vehicle exhaust may have something to do with AMD. The study isn’t designed to measure causation, the authors note, but after digging through 12 years of national health insurance and air quality records, they unearthed a nearly 2-fold risk of AMD among people exposed to the highest (versus lowest) levels of nitrogen dioxide. Exposure to carbon monoxide also raised the risk of retinal degeneration. Journal of Investigative Medicine

    There’s a new voice assistant in town, and he’s out to help people with visual impairment get their web content as quickly as possible. The tool—Voice Exploration, Retrieval and Search, or VERSE—functions as both a virtual assistant and a screen reader, and can be controlled by voice commands and screen swipes. VERSE was developed by graduate student Alexandra Vtyurina during her internship at Microsoft, and interfaces with smart speakers, phones and smart TVs.  EurekAlert!

    Aerie’s sustained release intravitreal implant is about to enter human trials. AR-13503, an implant containing a proprietary, small-molecule Rho kinase and protein kinase C inhibitor, is designed for patients with neovascular AMD and diabetic macular edema. The 2-stage study will test the safety and preliminary efficacy of the AR-13503 SR implant as monotherapy and in combination with aflibercept. Aerie

    Alcon’s spinoff from Novartis remains a work in progress, Reuters reported this week. The company posted a second quarter loss of $390 million, compared with a net income of $15 million at the same time last year. Alcon debuted in April as an independent, publicly traded company focused on devices for surgical and vision care. Alcon, Reuters

     

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    Don’t miss last week’s roundup: Needle collection, third try, it’s electric!