Eye Animation Vision Animations – Eye Disorders Animations

General Optical Council Announces Geoff Harris As New Chair, UK
The Appointments Commission has appointed Dr Geoffrey Harris as the new chair of the General Optical Council (GOC). He replaces Rosie Varley who retires at the end of December after ten years in the role. Dr Harris's appointment is from 1 January 2009 to 31 March 2009. It is expected that as the incumbent chair, he will be appointed for a further four years from 1 April 2009, once the new Constitution Order has received parliamentary approval.

Ophthalmologists At South Nassau Introduce New Cataract Surgery Technology
Ophthalmologists at South Nassau Communities Hospital are using a new micro-incision ophthalmologic surgical system that allows ophthalmologists to perform cataract surgery through a single incision that is 2.2mm or smaller. Traditional, no-stitch cataract surgery requires an incision that is 33 percent larger.

Brain Reorganizes To Adjust For Loss Of Vision
A new study from Georgia Tech shows that when patients with macular degeneration focus on using another part of their retina to compensate for their loss of central vision, their brain seems to compensate by reorganizing its neural connections. Age related macular degeneration is the leading cause of blindness in the elderly. The study appears in the December edition of the journal Restorative Neurology and Neuroscience.

General Optical Council Registration Fees Go Up For First Time In Four Years - UK
The GOC today announced that the annual retention fee for 2009/10 is rising from £169 to £219. This is the first time in four years that the cost of GOC registration has gone up. The new fee amount was agreed by Council at its November meeting, and applies to the next retention period, which runs from 1 April 2009 - 31 March 2010.

General Opital Council News - 20th November, 2008
Members bid farewell to Council chairman Council met on 20 November 2008 at the Durrants Hotel, London. The meeting was Rosie Varley's last as chairman, having served in the role for ten years. During a brief farewell address Rosie welcomed recent moves toward collaborative working within optics, citing joint working between the Association of Optometrists (AOP) and the Federation of Ophthalmic Dispensing Opticians (FODO); and the RNIB and Action for Blind People.

NHS Sight Tests Top 11 Million After 14 Per Cent Rise Since 2002-03, Report Shows, England
Just over 11 million NHS sight tests took place in England in 2007-08, nearly 1.4 million more than in 2002-03, new figures from The NHS Information Centre show. The report, General Ophthalmic Services, Activity Statistics for England and Wales, Year Ending 31 March 2008, also shows there were nearly 330,000 of these sight tests at a patients' home or residential home in 2007-08, 75,000 (29.3 per cent) more than in 2002-03.

First Retinal Prosthesis Study Of Its Kind Seeks To Partially Restore Vision To The Blind
Second Sight® Medical Products, Inc., the leading developer of retinal prostheses for the blind, announced that it will increase patient enrollment for the ArgusTM II Retinal Implant study throughout clinical trials sites within Europe. The three-year feasibility study is currently underway in the United States, Europe and Mexico for people with Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP), a genetic eye disease that causes blindness.

Will Glaucoma Be The First Neurodegenerative Disease To Be Cured?
"More than in any preceding year," says Glaucoma Research Foundation (GRF) President and CEO Thomas M. Brunner, "there is a heightened sense of anticipation around the annual Research Overview by the four principal investigators of the GRF-funded Catalyst For a Cure (CFC) research consortium that opens GRF's 31st Anniversary Benefit and Celebration at 5 pm, Wednesday, January 28, 2009, in San Francisco's legendary Palace Hotel.

Delcath Systems Granted Orphan-Drug Designations For Cutaneous And Ocular Melanoma
Delcath Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq: DCTH), a medical technology company testing its proprietary liver cancer treatment for melanoma metastatic to the liver, announced that the United States Food and Drug Administration ("FDA") granted to Delcath two orphan-drug applications for the drug melphalan. Delcath was granted designations of the drug melphalan for the treatment of patients with cutaneous as well as ocular melanoma.

Experimental Drug RGN-259 Promotes Healing In Patients With Non-Healing Corneal Ulcers - Four Patients Treated Under "Compassionate Use" IND
REGENERX BIOPHARMACEUTICALS, INC. (AMEX:RGN) announced today that its ophthalmic drug candidate, RGN-259, was used to treat four neurotrophic keratitis patients with non-healing eye ulcers caused primarily by the herpes zoster virus under a "Compassionate Use" IND (Investigational New Drug application). RGN-259 is a sterile eye drop formulation of Tβ4 being developed by RegeneRx for use in treating ophthalmic wounds and related disorders. Dr.

Novagali Pharma S.A. Withdraws Its Marketing Authorisation Applicationfor Vekacia (ciclosporin)
The European Medicines Agency (EMEA) has been formally notified by Novagali Pharma S.A. of its decision to withdraw its application for a centralised marketing authorisation for the medicine Vekacia (ciclosporin) 0.05% eye drops. Vekacia was expected to be used for the treatment of vernal keratoconjunctivitis. Vekacia was designated as an orphan medicine on 6 April 2006.

New Research Into Drug Delivery To Treat Eye Disease Highlighted By Conference Report
Researchers are investigating microneedles, nanoparticles and polymer carriers as potential new techniques to combat the leading cause of visual impairment and blindness in the United States, according to a report from the Third Annual ARVO/Pfizer Ophthalmics Research Institute Conference. The report (http://www.iovs.

Promising Proof-of-Concept Data For Lpath's Ocular Drug Candidate ISONEP(TM) Published
Lpath, Inc. (OTCBB: LPTN) today announced that the laboratory of Peter Campochiaro, MD at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine(1) recently published peer-reviewed findings of a research study of iSONEP(TM), Lpath's Phase 1 anti-S1P antibody, demonstrating promising results in various animal models of ocular disorders. The findings of the study appeared online ahead of print in the

Patents Issued For Inotek Pharmaceuticals' Lead Clinical Compounds In Glaucoma And Contrast-Induced Nephropathy
Inotek Pharmaceuticals Corporation announced today that the United States Patent and Trademark Office has issued two new patents covering the Company's two lead clinical compounds. US Patent number 7,423,144 relates to INO-8875, in clinical development as a novel treatment for glaucoma and US Patent number 7,432,369 relates to INO-4885, in clinical development for the prevention of contrast-induced nephropathy.

ThromboGenics Announces Promising Six Month Follow-Up Results From Its Phase IIb Trial Of Microplasmin (MIVI III) For Treatment Of Visual Disorders
ThromboGenics NV (Euronext Brussels: THR), a biotechnology company focused on eye disease, vascular disease and cancer, announces promising six month follow-up results from its Phase IIb MIVI III trial, which was designed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of microplasmin in vitrectomy. The results were presented at the American Academy of Ophthalmology in Atlanta, USA, by Dr.