Week in review: Wayward implant, look out, rear eyes

A weekly roundup of ophthalmic news from around the web.

BVI has entered the IOL market with the launch of their new preloaded aspheric monofocal lens. The IPure is available in the United States in a 1-piece and a 3-piece design for patients undergoing cataract surgery. New York-based ophthalmologist Eric Donnenfeld, MD, who was one of the first to test out the new lens, noted that the lens was “simple and straightforward to inject, opened easily and centered well.” BVI

“For the first time, we have identified a communication structure between cells that is required to coordinate blood supply in the living retina,” announced Adriana Di Polo, PhD, in a new press release. Her team discovered that pericytes—cells that hug capillaries to control blood flow—project thin tubes to communicate with distant capillaries. Experiments in mice showed that damaging these thin interpericyte tunneling nanontubes prevent capillaries from shuttling blood, cutting off supplies of oxygen and nutrients to the retina and other tissues. The team hypothesizes that strategies to protect these nanostructures could be beneficial in patients with neurodegenerative diseases. Centre hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal, Nature

Google is literally looking out for its customers who are blind or have low vision. The company has introduced new updates to their Lookout app, designed to help individuals identify objects via their phone camera. The app now has 2 new modes to help customers better identify food packages and go through mail. In addition, the new accessible design renders the app compatible with the Android screen reader TalkBack. “Expanding this app to more people and devices is part of our commitment to make the world's information universally accessible and to build helpful products with and for people with disabilities,” the company explained in a press release. Google

How to protect herds of cattle: draw a set of eyes on their rears. Well, at least that worked in Botswana. According to a new Communications Biology study, painting a pair of eyes on cattle may protect them from lion and leopard attacks. Of the 2,061 cattle assessed, lions killed 15 unmarked animals and 4 with X-shaped marks but left cattle with eyespots unscathed. The exact reason remains unclear but the running theory is that predators were intimidated by the markings or thought they’d been spotted. Either way, this is the first time eyespots have been shown to deter large mammalian predators. These findings may lead to a simple and cost-effective method for African cattle farmers to protect their livelihood. Newsweek, Communications Biology

Surgeons from Germany devised a creative solution to manage a migrated Iluvien implant, which was detailed in the August issue of Ophthalmology Retina. The problem first arose when a 63-year-old patient with chronic corneal and cystoid macular edema received the fluocinolone acetonide intravitreal implant after vitrectomy and sclera fixation of an IOL. After several failed attempts to keep the implant in the vitreous cavity, the surgeons pierced the implant with a straight needle and attached it to the pars plana (image above). After 3 months, the patient experienced an improvement in visual acuity while the implant stayed in place, with no signs of corneal or macular edema. Ophthalmology Retina