Blind Man Sees His Wife For the First Time In A Decade After Getting Bionic Eye Implant
A blind man is regaining his sight thanks to some groundbreaking technology.
Allen Zderad of Minnesota, has retinitis pigmentosa, an untreatable degenerative eye disease that caused his vision to deteriorate, according to the Mayo Clinic. While he wasn't able to see anything other than bright light, earlier this month, the 68-year-old saw his wife for the first time in a decade with the help of a bionic eye implant, KARE reported.
"It's crude, but it's significant," an emotional Zderad said after using the device at the Mayo Clinic, according to the outlet. "It works."
The bionic eye implant functions by sending sign...
Source: Science - The Huffington Post - February 26, 2015 Category: Science Source Type: news
"Bionic" Eye Implant Offers Hope of Restoring Vision
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mu5099aJWcU It’s a medical story, a science and technology advancement and a romance wrapped into one moment: when a man who is blind sees his wife again for the first time in a decade. Allen Zderad began to have serious vision problems about 20 years ago due to retinitis pigmentosa, a degenerative eye disease affecting [...] (Source: News from Mayo Clinic)
Source: News from Mayo Clinic - February 23, 2015 Category: Databases & Libraries Source Type: news
Scientists discover gene tied to profound vision loss
(University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston) An exhaustive hereditary analysis of a large Louisiana family with vision issues has uncovered a new gene tied to an incurable eye disorder called retinitis pigmentosa, according to an examination led by scientists at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. It is a family of eye diseases that affects more than 200,000 people in the United States and millions worldwide. (Source: EurekAlert! - Medicine and Health)
Source: EurekAlert! - Medicine and Health - January 15, 2015 Category: Global & Universal Source Type: news
Adeno-Associated Viral Gene Therapy for Retinal Disorders
Gene therapy is ideally suited to the treatment of inherited retinal degenerations in order to prevent blindness. The target area of the outer retina is small and relatively immune privileged, which facilitates the delivery of small volumes of vector without generating significant immune reactions. Moreover, most of the currently untreatable forms of blindness have a genetic component, either monogenic such as in retinitis pigmentosa or as a result of several genes interacting along a common pathway, such as age-related macular degeneration, the commonest cause of legal blindness in the developed world. The self-contained ...
Source: Springer protocols feed by Neuroscience - January 10, 2015 Category: Neuroscience Source Type: news
Amarantus Receives Orphan Drug Designation for MANF From U.S. Food and Drug Administration for Treatment of Retinitis Pigmentosa
(Source: Medical News (via PRIMEZONE))
Source: Medical News (via PRIMEZONE) - December 23, 2014 Category: Pharmaceuticals Source Type: news
Gene therapy could help with inherited blindness
ConclusionThis innovative set of experiments has shown retinal ganglion cells can be genetically modified to produce a receptor on their surface that can respond to light in the presence of a chemical compound called MAG460. This light receptor can be activated for up to nine days. This was shown in laboratory experiments on the retinas of mice and dogs, and in sight-testing experiments using mice. The mice had been genetically engineered to lose both types of photoreceptors, rods and cones by 90 days. This model mimics what occurs over a much longer timescale in the human condition retinitis pigmentosa. It appears from th...
Source: NHS News Feed - December 10, 2014 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Genetics/stem cells Source Type: news
New therapy holds promise for restoring vision
(University of California - Berkeley) UC Berkeley scientists developed a therapy to restore light sensitivity to retinas blinded by the death of photoreceptors, as in retinitis pigmentosa. They use a virus to insert a gene for an ion channel into surviving retinal cells. An injected chemical binds to the receptor and opens it when hit with light, making these cells respond to light. It works in mice and now dogs at PennVet, while mice see enough to follow visual cues. (Source: EurekAlert! - Social and Behavioral Science)
Source: EurekAlert! - Social and Behavioral Science - December 8, 2014 Category: Global & Universal Source Type: news
Viagra 'may cause visual disturbance' in some men
ConclusionThis study looked at the effects of sildenafil (Viagra) on the retinas of mice. It showed that genetically engineered mice with retinitis pigmentosa carrier status are more susceptible to the temporary side effect of visual disturbances than normal mice. These carrier mice also had increased levels of the chemical cytochrome C, which is an indicator of cell death. However, there was no sign of cell loss or change in retinal thickness in any of the mice retina. This research therefore did not prove sildenafil causes permanent retinal degeneration because the changes were reversible in all mice.It should be emphasi...
Source: NHS News Feed - October 1, 2014 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Genetics/stem cells Medication Source Type: news
Retina Implant AG's International Clinical Results Presented for the First Time in Europe
Discussion of Alpha IMS Patient Results One Year Post Implantation at Europe's Largest Ophthalmology Conference
LONDON, Sept. 15, 2014 -- (Healthcare Sales & Marketing Network) -- Retina Implant AG, the leading develope... Devices, OphthalmologyRetina Implant AG, retinitis pigmentosa, Alpha IMS (Source: HSMN NewsFeed)
Source: HSMN NewsFeed - September 15, 2014 Category: Pharmaceuticals Source Type: news
Treatment for Retinitis Pigmentosa Reported
Most adults with blinding retinitis pigmentosa (RP) should take adaily, 15,000 IU vitamin A supplement, based on results from a large,randomized clinical trial published today in the Archives ofOphthalmology.
Language
English (Source: News from NEI)
Source: News from NEI - August 29, 2014 Category: Opthalmology Authors: David Source Type: news
Implant Helps Patients Blinded by Retinitis PigmentosaImplant Helps Patients Blinded by Retinitis Pigmentosa
Experimental implants can improve vision in patients blinded by retinitis pigmentosa, new studies show. Medscape Medical News (Source: Medscape Medical News Headlines)
Source: Medscape Medical News Headlines - August 12, 2014 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Ophthalmology News Source Type: news
Retina Implant wins German reimbursement for vision-correcting microchip
Retina Implant AG lands reimbursement from Germany's statutory health insurance system to cover its Alpha IMS microchip for helping correct vision.
Retina Implant AG announced this week that it won reimbursement from Germany's government health system to cover the company's flagship Alpha IMS microchip, an implantable device for helping to correct vision in patients with late-stage retinitis pigmentosa (RP).
The reimbursement win is Retina Implant's 1st in the world, coming from the company's home country.
Retina Implant AGNews Well, Optical/Ophthalmic, Reimbursementread more (Source: Mass Device)
Source: Mass Device - August 11, 2014 Category: Medical Equipment Authors: Arezu Sarvestani Source Type: news
Iodine may alleviate swelling in retinitis pigmentosa patients' retinas
(Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary) Researchers from the Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Harvard Medical School, and Boston University School of Medicine tested whether the extent of retinal swelling due to cystoid macular edema was inversely related to dietary iodine intake in patients with retinitis pigmentosa and found that it was. This finding raises the possibility that an iodine supplement could help limit or reduce central foveal swelling in retinitis pigmentosa patients with cystoid macular edema. (Source: EurekAlert! - Medicine and Health)
Source: EurekAlert! - Medicine and Health - July 21, 2014 Category: Global & Universal Source Type: news
Retinitis Pigmentosa: Inherited Eye Diseases
'Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP),' refers to a group of inherited diseases that cause retinal degeneration in a person's eyes. The cell-rich retina lines the back inside wall of a person's eye. It is responsible for capturing images from the person's visual field. People with RP experience a gradual decline in their vision because, 'photoreceptor,' cells or, 'rods and cones,' die. Forms of RP and related diseases include Leber's congenital amaurosis, Usher syndrome, Bardet-Biedl syndrome, rod-cone disease, and Refsum disease. (Source: Disabled World)
Source: Disabled World - July 16, 2014 Category: Disability Tags: Vision Disability Source Type: news
Patient-specific stem cells and personalized gene therapy
Researchers have created a way to develop personalized gene therapies for patients with retinitis pigmentosa, a leading cause of vision loss. The approach, the first of its kind, takes advantage of induced pluripotent stem cell technology to transform skin cells into retinal cells, which are then used as a patient-specific model for disease study and preclinical testing. (Source: ScienceDaily Headlines)
Source: ScienceDaily Headlines - July 10, 2014 Category: Science Source Type: news
