Week in review: Smart clinic, bug eyes, holly jolly therapeutic

A weekly roundup of ophthalmic news from around the web.

What happens when an entire glaucoma clinic—docs, technicians, medical assistants and 2,000+ patients—wears ID tags implanted with an RFID chip? The University of Michigan Kellogg Eye Center did just that, and unlocked an unprecedented level of efficiency. Using RFID data, the “smart clinic” now provides live updates on physician progress and patient wait times. The team can also predict with 80% accuracy how changes in scheduling, staffing and operations will affect patient backlogs. The goal is to boost clinic efficiency, maximizing time for patient education and counseling. Michigan Health Lab

Doctors and artists teamed up with an 81-year-old patient to create an educational cartoon about AMD for newly diagnosed people and their families. The cartoon, Macular Degeneration Xplained, describes the pathophysiology, signs, symptoms and lifestyle changes experienced by a patient named Carolyn. “When I was diagnosed with AMD, I didn't know what it was, and I didn't know what to expect,” Carolyn told Medicine X. “If I can help some people better understand this disease and be able to accept it better, I will just be so happy.” Cision PRNewswire

It’s not easy to recreate insect eyes in the lab—past attempts have been squashed by high costs, size restrictions and visual distortions. But Chinese researchers say they’ve hit on a new technique that overcomes these challenges.  The team used lasers to craft convex acrylic glass domes, then carpeted the domes in shaggy antireflexive and water-repellant nanostructures. Their artificial bug eyes are simple, cheap and could enhance the peripheral vision, light sensitivity and motion detection of self-driving vehicles. ACS Nano

The ornamental Christmas berry primrose plant may stop uveal melanoma in its tracks, according to a report in Molecular Cancer Research. Low doses of FR900359, a compound extracted from the leaves of Ardisia crenata, caused lab-grown cancer cells to revert to typical melanocytes; high doses killed the cancer cells. Researchers are eyeing the potential human implications, but first they’ll need to vet the compound in mice. Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center

Allergan’s bimatoprost SR looks promising, 3 months into a second phase 3 study. The sustained-release implant lowered IOP by 30% in 528 patients with open-angle glaucoma or ocular hypertension, and the findings suggest most patients will remain treatment-free for at least 1 year after implantation. The 20-month masked study is ongoing, the company reports. Allergan