Eye Health News and Research

Latest Eye Health News and Research

HSS, pSivida enter orthopedic evaluation agreement

Drug delivery company pSivida Corp. today announced it has entered into an evaluation agreement with Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS), a world leader in orthopedics, rheumatology and rehabilitation, to investigate pSivida's drug delivery technologies in orthopedics.

17 Aug 2011

ACS, 20 other organizations publish sixth edition of Physicians as Assistants at Surgery

In light of continuing Medicare and other third party-payer physician reimbursement issues and changes, the American College of Surgeons (ACS) and 20 other specialty surgical organizations have jointly published the sixth edition of Physicians as Assistants at Surgery, a guide that indicates whether an operation may call for the use of a physician as an assistant.

16 Aug 2011

Scientists identify potential new target for childhood eye tumor

A research team led by St. Jude Children's Research Hospital scientists has identified a potential new target for treatment of the childhood eye tumor retinoblastoma.

16 Aug 2011

New role for harmonin protein in Usher syndrome

University of Iowa scientists have discovered a new role for a protein that is mutated in Usher syndrome, one of the most common forms of deaf-blindness in humans. The findings, which were published Aug. 8 in Nature Neuroscience, may help explain why this mutation causes the most severe form of the condition.

16 Aug 2011

Enrollment commences in RegeneRx RGN-259 Phase 2 trial for dry eye syndrome

RegeneRx Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. has announced that the first patients have been enrolled and randomized to receive RGN-259 or placebo in its 72-patient, Phase 2 clinical trial in patients with dry eye syndrome.

16 Aug 2011

New computational model could forecast cholera outbreaks

Just as the rainy season is driving a new surge of cholera cases in Haiti, a new computational model could forecast where outbreaks are likely to occur.

11 Aug 2011

Light may play a role in modulating fear and anxiety

Biologists and psychologists know that light affects mood, but a new University of Virginia study indicates that light may also play a role in modulating fear and anxiety.

11 Aug 2011

Global endoscopy equipment market to reach $33.7 billion by 2016: New report

By 2016 it is believed that the global endoscopy equipment market will be worth in excess of $33.7 billion, growing at a CAGR of 6.4% over the reporting period, according to a new report available on companiesandmarkets.com.

10 Aug 2011

Scientist determines how nyctalopin gene makes night vision possible

A scientist from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute has determined how a particular gene makes night vision possible. The study, which was published in the August 10, 2011 edition of The Journal of Neuroscience, focuses on a gene called nyctalopin. Mutations in the gene result in inherited "night blindness," a loss of vision in low-light environments.

10 Aug 2011

New genetic cause of retinitis pigmentosa

Combining the expertise of several different labs, University of Iowa researchers have found a new genetic cause of the blinding eye disease retinitis pigmentosa (RP) and, in the process, discovered an entirely new version of the message that codes for the affected protein.

10 Aug 2011

New preclinical approach can guide more efficient drug development for brain-related conditions

The development of drugs for brain-related conditions is not an efficient process; only 8% of candidate drugs that enter clinical trials gain FDA approval. A key reason for this low success rate is a lack of preclinical tests that accurately predict drug efficacy and detect unwanted side effects.

9 Aug 2011

Researchers team up to combat age-related macular degeneration

A professor at the University of California, Riverside Bourns College of Engineering has received a $100,000 grant to develop a new technique to fight a disease that gradually destroys vision.

8 Aug 2011

Mindless eating: Don't rely on your stomach to tell you when you're full!

There a millions of people around the world who are a victim of mindless eating – or eating without being hungry. The phrase is coined by Cornell University food psychologist Brian Wansink, PhD, to describe subconscious eating habits that can lead to unnecessary weight gain.

8 Aug 2011

Simple changes in food environment can help people lose weight

Dieters may not need as much willpower as they think, if they make simple changes in their surroundings that can result in eating healthier without a second thought, said a consumer psychologist at the American Psychological Association's 119th Annual Convention.

6 Aug 2011

Merge Healthcare acquires Ophthalmic Imaging Systems

Merge Healthcare, a leading provider of enterprise imaging and interoperability solutions, and Ophthalmic Imaging Systems, one of the country's top providers of digital imaging and informatics solutions for ophthalmology and other medical specialties, announced today the completion of Merge's acquisition of Ophthalmic Imaging Systems.

5 Aug 2011

Scientists confirm feasibility of new battery-powered skin patch drug delivery system

Scientists have confirmed the feasibility of using a new drug delivery system - the basis for a battery-powered skin patch - to administer medication that shows promise for treating peripheral artery disease (PAD) and healing stubborn skin ulcers and burns.

5 Aug 2011

AAA journal secures number 1 rank in science education category

What began as a gleam in the eye of now co-editor Rick Drake and colleagues at the anatomy chairs' meeting in 2006, launched in 2008, and is now the highest ranking journal in science education? If you said Anatomical Sciences Education (ASE), you would be absolutely correct!

5 Aug 2011