'Stunning' operation regenerates eye's lens

A pioneering procedure to regenerate the eye has successfully treated children with cataracts in China.

More than half of all cases of blindness are caused by cataracts - the clouding of the eye's lens.

An implanted lens is normally needed to restore sight, but the operation described in Nature activated stem cells in the eye to grow a new one.

Article title: Lens regeneration using endogenous stem cells with gain of visual function

Experts describe the breakthrough as one of the finest achievements in regenerative medicine.

The lens sits just behind the pupil and focuses light on to the retina.

About 20 million people are blind because of cataracts, which become more common with age - although some children are born with them.  Conventional treatment uses ultrasound to soften and break up the lens, which is then flushed out.

An artificial intraocular lens must then be implanted back into the eye, but this can result in complications, particularly in children.

The technique developed by scientists at the Sun Yat-sen University and the University of California, San Diego removes the cloudy cataract from inside the lens via a tiny incision.

Crucially it leaves the outer surface - called the lens capsule - intact.  This structure is lined with lens epithelial stem cells, which normally repair damage.  The scientists hoped that preserving them would regenerate the lens.

The team reported that tests on rabbits and monkeys were successful, so the approach was trialled in 12 children.  Within eight months the regenerated lens was back to the same size as normal.

Dr Kang Zhang, one of the researchers, said: "This is the first time an entire lens has been regenerated. The children were operated on in China and they continue to be doing very well with normal vision."

It also showed a dramatically lower complication rate "by almost every measure, supporting the superiority of the treatment"

However, he says larger trials are needed before it should become the standard treatment for patients.

Commenting on the findings, Prof Robin Ali from the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, said the work was "stunning".

He told the BBC News website: "This new approach offers greatly improved prospects for the treatment of paediatric cataracts as it results in regeneration of a normal lens that grows naturally."

He said getting similar results in adults "is likely to be more difficult to achieve" but could "have a major impact".
View more on BBC/Health News 

Hi-tech headset to guide blind people

A headset that talks visually impaired people around cities has been designed by Microsoft. It works with a Windows phone and uses location and navigation data with a network of information beacons in urban locations to describe routes.

The headset was tested on a journey from Reading to London, including shopping, bus and train travel.

The charity Guide Dogs, which helped develop the technology, said it could help improve lives for visually impaired people.

The headset is an adapted version of one already on the market. Designed for cyclists, it sits in front of the ear so as not to drown out traffic and environmental noise.

Sound is conducted through the jawbone and the headset gives a series of verbal and non-verbal descriptions.

View video here: Microsoft headset to help blind people navigate cities

AMD Awareness Week 15-21 Sept 2014

Picture of the fundus showing intermediate Age Related Macular Degeneration

One in ten people in Ireland over the age of 50 have AMD¹¹. The ‘Begin Your New Chapter’ campaign for AMD Awareness Week 2014, which takes place from Monday 15th – Sunday 21st September, is highlighting how AMD can impact a person’s ability to read and is encouraging people to protect their eyesight with regular eye tests.

The NCBI - Working for People with Sight Loss, Fighting Blindness, the Irish College of Ophthalmologists (ICO) and the Association of Optometrists Ireland (AOI), supported by Novartis, have developed this awareness campaign to help prevent further sight loss in Ireland. Regular eye tests for those aged over 50 can identify the early signs of AMD, ensuring that the disease can be diagnosed and treated as early as possible.

A dedicated Novartis mobile testing unit will offer free AMD testing in various locations nationwide for AMD Awareness Week. The mobile unit will visit Dublin, Cork, Galway, Limerick and Waterford between Tuesday 16th and Saturday 20th of September offering free AMD eye testing and information to the general public. Free AMD testing will also be available in participating optometrists nationwide.

AMD Awareness Week encourages anyone who is worried about their eyesight to speak to a healthcare professional and get their eyes tested. The mobile testing unit will visit the following locations in Galway on Wednesday 17th of September:

• Ballybane Library, Castlepark Road, Ballybane, Galway from 10am - 1pm
• Galway Golf Club, Blackrock, Salthill, Galway from 2pm - 6pm

View more here

Reducing Blindness in the Elderly:

A preventative drug for one of the most common causes of blindness in older people could be a step closer, as a result of new research by scientists at Trinity College Dublin.

The research team has found that a molecule naturally occurring in our bodies can suppress the production of damaging blood cells in the eye that cause Age-Related Macular Degeneration.

A condition that affects 70,000 people in Ireland, AMD involves a loss of central vision that can lead to an inability to carry out common tasks such as driving, watching TV and reading.

• Watch: Preventative drug for age-related blindness a step closer

         

There are two forms of AMD; dry and wet.Dry makes up the vast majority of cases, but wet AMD is the cause of 90% of the blindness that follows the disease.

Wet AMD sees the blood vessels below the retina, or light sensor, in the eye begin to grow abnormally and leak, causing almost immediate blindness in the eye affected.Currently treatment for wet AMD is only available for the later stages of the disease.It consists of regular monthly injections into the eye of antibodies, which mop up a molecule called VEGF which causes the problem.

But the injections do not cure the problem, which continues indefinitely and can lead to resistance. However, the scientists at TCD discovered in 2012 that a protein called IL-18, which occurs naturally in human immune systems, can inhibit the production of VEGF in the first place.Results of subsequent trials on mice are published in this week's edition of the high-profile international journal Science Translational Medicine.

They found it can effectively control blood vessel production and also boost the immune processes that spur healing of the retinal tissue, without causing toxicity.

They found the molecule works as effectively as the current treatment when given as a non-invasive intravenous injection, and say it could potentially one day be used as a guardian of eyesight in older people.

Early indications suggest patients may be able to go for extended lengths of time before having to receive another IL-18 injection, potentially making it an effective treatment for wet AMD.
The researchers have cautioned, however, that an approved and licensed treatment for AMD using the molecule is a long way off as clinical trials must first be undertaken in humans.

However, that process may be speeded up by the fact that the pharmaceutical company GSK has already tested IL-18 in humans as a treatment for cancer and other illnesses, and found it to be safe.
The study was supported by Enterprise Ireland, Science Foundation Ireland, US-based charity Brightfocus Foundation and drug company GlaxoSmithKline.
View RTE link

Gene Therapy Benefit

By delivering gene therapies to patients before they go blind, doctors may be able to prevent the loss of many important light-detecting cells.
Robert MacLaren, an ophthalmologist at the University of Oxford led the study. “When retinal damage gets to a certain point, it’s beyond repair.”

Gene Trial Makes Eye Disease Breakthrough

The experimental treatment adds a working copy of the culpable gene to the retinal cells of the patients born with a defective copy. The trial also involved an experimental way of delivering gene therapy to the eye.  Each patient's retina was first lifted, and the gene therapy was injected into the space created under the retina.  MacLaren and colleagues report on the condition of six patients in a study published on 16th January in the Lancet.