Winter 2015 Patient Newsletter
Continuing Education of Optometrists and General Practitioners
Since opening in November 2014, Dr Dana Robaei and the team at Forest Eye Surgery have been working closely with local optometrists and general practitioners, offering regular educational seminars to assist them with the accurate and timely diagnosis of patients in the Northern beaches and North Shore areas. In the last 6 months, we’ve held a GP seminar covering critical eye conditions, as well as several seminars for optometrists covering the diagnosis and management of the red eye, pterygium surgery, management of cancers of the eye surface, complex cataract surgery, and life-threatening eye conditions in children.
Our community information sessions at Manly Library and Forestville RSL also proved very popular. In these sessions, Dr Robaei covered important topics that potentially affect all seniors, including cataract, glaucoma, and macular degeneration.
What Is New in Ophthalmology?
The Bionic Eye Project has been in the news extensively recently. A ‘bionic eye’ is an experimental device designed to restore functional vision to those with partial or total blindness. A number of different prototypes are under development, although the retinal implants are showing the greatest promise.
Patients who suffer from degeneration of the retinal photoreceptors (specialised light-sensitive cells) are the best candidates, and hence patients with retinitis pigmentosa and advanced dry macular degeneration may benefit in the future.
The Argus II retinal prosthesis is one such device. In February 2013, the Argus II was approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use in the US. Although the system does not take patients above the threshold for legal blindness, it does provide significant improvements in spatial orientation and mobility. The device consists of a retinal implant and an eyeglass-mounted camera in combination with a small processor. The camera records images, which are processed and sent to the implant by a built-in video processor. The implant then uses 60 electrodes to stimulate the patient's remaining healthy retinal cells and send visual information to the optic nerve, thus restoring the ability to discern light, movement, and shapes.
Since opening in November 2014, Dr Dana Robaei and the team at Forest Eye Surgery have been working closely with local optometrists and general practitioners, offering regular educational seminars to assist them with the accurate and timely diagnosis of patients in the Northern beaches and North Shore areas. In the last 6 months, we’ve held a GP seminar covering critical eye conditions, as well as several seminars for optometrists covering the diagnosis and management of the red eye, pterygium surgery, management of cancers of the eye surface, complex cataract surgery, and life-threatening eye conditions in children.
Our community information sessions at Manly Library and Forestville RSL also proved very popular. In these sessions, Dr Robaei covered important topics that potentially affect all seniors, including cataract, glaucoma, and macular degeneration.
What Is New in Ophthalmology?
The Bionic Eye Project has been in the news extensively recently. A ‘bionic eye’ is an experimental device designed to restore functional vision to those with partial or total blindness. A number of different prototypes are under development, although the retinal implants are showing the greatest promise.
Patients who suffer from degeneration of the retinal photoreceptors (specialised light-sensitive cells) are the best candidates, and hence patients with retinitis pigmentosa and advanced dry macular degeneration may benefit in the future.
The Argus II retinal prosthesis is one such device. In February 2013, the Argus II was approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use in the US. Although the system does not take patients above the threshold for legal blindness, it does provide significant improvements in spatial orientation and mobility. The device consists of a retinal implant and an eyeglass-mounted camera in combination with a small processor. The camera records images, which are processed and sent to the implant by a built-in video processor. The implant then uses 60 electrodes to stimulate the patient's remaining healthy retinal cells and send visual information to the optic nerve, thus restoring the ability to discern light, movement, and shapes.
Whilst still in development, the Bionic Eye holds great promise for profoundly blind individuals, and is an area of ongoing research in ophthalmology. As clinicians, we will watch this space very closely!
