The annual eye exam. It’s on everyone’s “to-do” list, but it’s understandable why people tend to put it off – eyesight is something many of us take for granted. Before you push eye exams for you or your family further down the list, consider the following points:
1. Poor eyesight can hurt child development and learning
Babies, preschoolers and students all need good vision and healthy eyes to grow and learn. For babies, it’s an essential part of tracking, grasping and other basic skills that require eye-hand coordination. Preschoolers under five years of age need good eyesight in order to comprehend numbers, colors and shapes. Older children can’t read, write and learn at their grade level without the ability to clearly see the printed page and classroom presentations.
Remember, six out of ten people wear corrective lenses, which means the chances are good that your child will also need them.
Experts suggest that baby’s first eye exam should come at between six and twelve months, (an earlier exam may be needed if there are signs of vision problems). Absent any guidance from your doctor, your child’s next well-check eye exam should come at age three. Once in …
One of the unique features of Ultrawide-field (UWF™) retinal imaging technology is the availability of multiple imaging modalities, including color, fluorescein angiography (FA), fundus autofluorescence (FAF), red reflectance (RR), and indocyanine green angiography (ICG). Facilitating comprehensive examination of the retinal periphery, application of multiple UWF imaging modes can identify pathology that might otherwise be missed with a single imaging modality and/or conventional narrow-field fundus photography.
A recent study, Ultra-Widefield Imaging with Autofluorescence and Indocyanine Green Angiography in Central Serous Chorioretinopathy1, demonstrates this capability using UWF FAF and UWF ICG in a central serious chorioretinopathy (CSC) retrospective observational case series.
CSC leakage from the choriocapillaris through the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) causes macular detachment, which in turn can cause visual impairment or, in recurrent or chronic cases, blindness. Fundus autofluorescence (which can characterize the health of the RPE) and ICG chorioangiograpy (which can characterize choroid circulatory function) are both used in CSC diagnosis and treatment, but in the past have been limited to conventional, narrow-field views.
Study Subjects and Methods
The study examined 65 eyes (35 patients), all with CSC. Thirty-three patients had chronic CSC, which was defined as persistent/recurrent retinal detachment for more than 120 …
Summer’s almost here, and along with it comes lots of outdoor work and play that can expose your eyes to an assortment of seasonal risks. Here are five eye safety tips that can keep your eyes (and the eyes of your significant others) summer-safe.
1. Summer sports means flying objects — don’t become a statistic
Golf, baseball, volleyball, badminton, softball, soccer, archery and more — many summer sports are about things small and large zipping through the air, sometimes with unfortunate results. It’s estimated that more than 40 percent of eye injuries are sports- or recreation-related.
You can purchase low-cost, impact-resistant specialized eyewear for sports from any sporting goods store and almost every major online retailer. It’s an easy way to make sure you, your spouse and your children don’t become statistics.
2. Fireworks — even the “safe” kind can hurt you
Fireworks send more than 10,000 people a year to emergency rooms, with about 38 percent of those admissions comprising of injuries to the eyes, head, face and ears. And it’s not just “unsafe” fireworks that are behind these numbers — sparklers and bottle rockets accounted for 15 percent of the injuries.
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Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the world’s third most common cause of vision impairment and the primary cause of vision impairment in industrialized nations. With age being the most important risk factor, eye care practitioners serving rapidly aging populations can expect to see a growing number of AMD patients.
Ultra-widefield (UWF™) retinal imaging technology is now being used to characterize the peripheral vascular abnormalities associated with AMD as part of ongoing research into improved methods for diagnosis and treatment. One observational study, Peripheral Autofluorescence and Clinical Findings in Neovascular and Non-neovascular Age-related Macular Degeneration, has used both UWF fundus autofluorescence (FAF) and UWF color imaging to understand if peripheral FAF abnormality patterns are different in patients with neovascular and non-neovascular AMD.
About Ultra-Widefield Retinal Imaging
UWF retinal imaging is performed by a specially designed scanning laser ophthalmoscope (SLO) that generates a high-resolution digital image covering 200° (or about 82%) of the retina. By comparison, conventional 7 standard field (7SF) ETDRS and fundus camera photographs produce a relatively narrow view (75° or less) of the center-portion of the retina.
The SLO simultaneously scans the retina using two low-power lasers (red – 633 nm and green – …