Halloween is just around the corner, and dressing up is all part of the fun for both children and adults alike. In the spirit of dressing up, many adults opt for cosmetic contact lenses that are designed to create certain effects, such as red eyes, zombie eyes, checkered pupils and more. While these contacts can create a great visual impact, they may also cause vision impairment or even blindness.

Non-prescription lenses may not always be sterile and can cause serious infection. In fact, there were so many problems caused by theses lenses that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) banned the sale of them by anyone but licensed eye care professionals in 2005. Despite the ruling however, these contacts are still available online, in convenience stores, as well as novelty shops.

To reinforce the vision impairment cosmetic contacts can cause, we’ve provided some reasons you should reconsider purchasing and wearing these lenses.

**Poor Fit – Since cosmetic contacts are not properly fitted to your eyes, they can cause corneal scratches, pain, light sensitivity and more. **Corneal Ulcers – Often appearing as white spots on the colored portion of the eye, these ulcers have similar symptoms to scratches, but they can form scarring that permanently …

As reported in the Courier, Optos has announced a commitment of up to £10 million in conjunction with NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde and the academic teams at Strathclyde and Kent University to develop retinal imaging technology that will provide earlier detection of diseases and conditions that cause sight loss.

The initial stage will begin with a £1.1 million study funded by Optos and Innovate UK, formerly known as United Kingdom Technology Board. The study will focus on improving laser technology to track cell function and provide earlier detection of disease formation, so eye diseases can be treated in its earliest stages. With anticipated completion by the beginning of 2017, the earliest studies will focus on AMD, diabetic retinopathy and glaucoma.

If these studies are successful, Optos will commit £9 million pounds to develop fully licensed retinal imaging technology by 2018. “We are delighted to play a key role in this collaboration with the NHS supported by clinical research,” said chief executive of Optos Roy Davis.

The intent of the entire project is not only to prevent blindness, but to prove that collaboration with the academic sector and other entities can provide new technology for enhancing patient outcomes.

With an estimated 7 million patients worldwide losing their vision — 80 percent of …

Eye Injury Prevention Month is a great time to remind patients how important it is to protect their eye health, not only at work, but also at home or play. While various types of injuries to the eyes occur in roughly 2,000 cases per day, nearly half of that number is caused by injuries while at home or in the yard. Many of the remaining cases can be attributed to injuries while at work.

Despite the high number of eye injuries reported, it’s estimated that more than 90 percent of eye injuries can be prevented with the use of protective eye wear. Unfortunately, more than 78 percent of those injured were either not wearing eye protection, or they were wearing inadequate protection for the task they were performing.

In order to protect your eye health and maintain healthy vision throughout your life, it’s essential to wear protective eye wear when performing certain tasks. Here are some tips to get you started:

**Always wear the recommended eye protection when at work. If face shields are required, don’t rely on wearing safety glasses. **Make sure to have certified safety glasses and goggles on hand in your home. Most eye injuries happen in the home or …

While diabetic mothers-to-be are apt to visit their medical doctors frequently and carefully monitor their sugar levels, many of them don’t schedule or receive proper retinal screening exams throughout their pregnancies. In fact, in a study of 300 pregnant women with type I or type II diabetes, 40 percent did not receive the recommended two retinal exams during two trimesters of their pregnancies.

Patients and doctors alike understand that diabetic retinopathy can be a serious condition in pregnant women, so planning and attending a retinal exam during two of the trimesters is a critical process.

In the study mentioned above, 26 percent of the women who received adequate screening were found to have worsening diabetic retinopathy, which is a significant reason to reinforce the importance of retinal screening in pregnancy. Women in the study who had a higher systolic blood pressure reading at their initial prenatal checkup and had the lowest HbA1c were the ones most likely to show increased diabetic retinopathy.

This stands to reason since diabetes can be significantly harder to control during pregnancy and can also form for non-diabetics. Some participating doctors found that women with normal vision at the beginning of their …

As innovators in ultra-widefield retinal display imaging, Optos is constantly working on improving our technology and software to provide you with the best possible tools for examining and treating eye disease – including software.  We are pleased to announce that the latest version of our image viewing software, V² Vantage Pro, is now available.

The latest version of this feature-rich, image viewing software and patient education tool includes new advancements to benefit practices and patients.  The imaging technology from Optos operates at the limits of ‘conventional’ optics and is the only imaging technology that can capture ultra-widefield images of 200° or 82% of the retina. The technology continues to push the boundaries of what is possible with optomap images by introducing ProView™.

ProView Benefits

**Normalizes the inherent bias which occurs when curved surfaces are shown in a flat plane **Enables historical and multi-modality comparison overlay **Enhances 3D Wrap™

With advanced capabilities built into the Vantage 2.9, you will have the unique opportunity to register and compare multiple images of various modalities from optomap exams. And, overlay capabilities allow for analysis at follow-up exams to further enhance early detection objectives.

The 3D Wrap is a three-dimensional graphical …

Summer may be over, but that doesn’t mean you should put away your sunglasses. Many people don’t realize that winter can be just as, if not more damaging, to their eye health than the hot and sunny days of summer. The following information can help ensure your patients maintain healthy vision all season long.

Even though winter may seem gloomy, the sun doesn’t go away. Inform your patients that if they’re headed outside this winter, they should wear proper eye protection in order to avoid photokeratitits. This condition is basically sunburn to delicate eye tissue, and it can range from light damage to permanent vision loss.

The effect of sun damage can be amplified by the refractory effect of snow, so they should always have proper eye wear with when heading outdoors to ski, shovel snow, or simply commute to work. Over-exposure to the sun’s UVA and UVB rays has also been proven to increase the occurrence of cataracts and age-related macular degeneration.

As with all seasonal sports or activities, goggles and safety glasses should be worn. Debris, ice particles, and blow back from snow removal equipment can cause severe damage and even blindness.

Winter …

The American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO), in conjunction with the European Society of Ophthalmology (SOE), and the Ophthalmic Photographers Society is holding their annual meeting from Oct. 18 to Oct. 21 at McCormick Place in Chicago. This is a great opportunity to learn more about valuable practice improvement techniques and the latest in technology, as well as trending improvements in diagnosis and treatment.

Optos invites you to join us for the 2014 American Academy of Ophthalmology conference, where we will be revealing our latest ultra-widefield product. We invite you to our booth at 2PM on October 18^th to find out what’s next from Optos.

In addition, ultra-widefield technology will be discussed during the following sessions.  We encourage you to add these sessions to your agenda.

AAO Authors Title Time Location Capone Widefield Imaging in Pediatric Retinal Diseases Friday, Oct 17 2014 11:49PM North Hall B Kiss Wide Field Imaging Saturday October 18 2014 8:23AM North Hall B Mruthyunjaya, Kiss, Hariprasad, Chan, Kelly, Srivastava Peering to the Periphery: Applications of Wide-Angle Retinal Imaging Sunday, Oct 19 2014 11:30AM – 12:30PM S104A Khanamiri, Rao, Sadda, Sagong Ultrawide-Field Fundus Abnormalities in Various Uveitic Disorders Sunday, Oct 19 2014 12:30PM – 2:00PM Hall A – …

Caused by increased ocular pressure, glaucoma eventually damages the optic nerve, resulting in low vision or complete blindness. Although there is no cure for glaucoma, more and more research on the benefits of good nutrition is being done.

It’s important to note that these nutritional recommendations are not a definitive proof for reducing glaucoma. Since these suggestions offer many other health benefits, there’s no harm in encouraging your patients to improve their diets and try to incorporate the following suggestions whenever possible.

Focus on Color

Fruits and vegetables high in color, particularly green leafy vegetables and orange fruits and vegetables, are rich in antioxidants and nutrients that contribute to eye health. Any fruits and vegetables, including berries that contain vitamins C, E and A, are also beneficial because of their antioxidant properties. Antioxidants zeaxanthin and lutein are found in high concentrations in the eye.

Heart Healthy is Glaucoma Friendly

Increased blood pressure can exacerbate the effects of glaucoma, since they’re both related to pressure. Minimizing salt intake and limiting fats can contribute to better eye health. Retinol, which is found in butter, cheese and milk, is a great form of vitamin A that’s also eye-friendly. Patients should consume adequate amounts …

With over 75 research papers discussing Optos’ ultra-widefield (UWF™) retinal imaging available at this year’s Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) meeting, it’s safe to say that the world of research is taking notice of UWF technology.

A recent article by Rishi P. Singh, MD, an Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology at Case Western Reserve University, as well as staff physician and medical director of the clinical systems office in Cleveland Clinic, states “It is evident that UWF technology will take a more prominent role in the clinical care of patients with retinal disease.”

According to Dr. Singh, Optos provides the widest view of the retina and its periphery at 200 degrees or 82 percent. UWF is rapidly accelerating the understanding of retinal diseases and impacting their management. Considering the aging population and associated influx of retinal and macular pathologies that occur with age, UWF and the ability to incorporate images into digital patient records will become an integral portion of your practice in the future.

The research conducted to date proves that optomap® images can be obtained faster and with no patient interference, which vastly improves the assessment time per patient. While efficiency alone is a benefit, accuracy of the imaging and the …

With more than 21 million students back on college campuses, it’s critical to remind young adults and their parents of maintaining good eye health. Until students experience a specific problem with their eyes, they usually don’t seek out help. With increased exposure to disease, injury and eye strain, maintaining good vision should be high on their list of priorities.

Contact lens wearers should be reminded never to wear their contacts in showers, pools or hot tubs. Nor should they clean and store their contacts in water. They should always use the appropriate cleaning and storage fluid to sterilize their contacts. The CDC reports that 85 percent of Acanthamoeba keratitis cases are found in contact lens wearers. Acanthamoeba is a parasite found in water that can be very harmful to the eyes.

Because universities, and even small colleges, are heavily populated, it’s best to remind students and parents to practice good hygiene. Conjunctivitis, more commonly known as “pink eye,” spreads rapidly and widely, but it can be avoided with frequent hand washing and less eye-rubbing. This practice can also limit the spreading of other infections that affect eye health.

Eye strain is another condition that affects students, as they tend to spend multiple …