StemCell Therapy

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Researchers at UCSan Diego have developed a nano-scale retinalimplant that could restoresight with higher resolution than other bionic eye systems(Credit: UC San Diego)

Advances in bionic eyes over the past few decades have given blind and visually impaired people new hope of restoring some of their vision. Now engineers have tested a new nano-scale system that could be implanted onto a patient's retina to respond to light by directly stimulating the neurons that send visual signals to the brain. Unlike other systems, the new device wouldn't require any external sensors, and can provide a much higher resolution.

Two of the most promising bionic eyes in development are the Argus II, built by Second Sight, and a similar system created by researchers at Bionic Vision Australia. Both of these prosthetics involve first implanting electrodes into the eye, then connecting them to external sensors that can be worn like glasses. Light signals from these camera-like sensors are translated into electrical impulses and sent to the implants to stimulate the neurons at the retina, which in turn send the visual information to the brain by way of the optic nerve.

Both bionic eyes have been tested in patients with a modicum of success: far from restoring vision as a sighted person knows it, the devices produce patterns of light that a patient has to learn to interpret. But the new prosthesis, from engineers at the University of California San Diego, uses bundles of nanowires that should provide clearer vision, and do so without need of a camera.

"We want to create a new class of devices with drastically improved capabilities to help people with impaired vision," says Gabriel Silva, a senior author on the study.

The nanowires are designed to mimic the natural photoreceptor cells in the retina. When they sense incoming light, they respond by generating an electric current that stimulates the retinal cells, and these signals are sent to the brain. Since these nanowires can be arranged in a grid with a density close to natural retinal cells, the new device has the potential to provide "images" of a much higher resolution than other bionic eyes.

"To restore functional vision, it is critical that the neural interface matches the resolution and sensitivity of the human retina," says Gert Cauwenberghs, senior author of the study.

Power for the system is provided wirelessly via induction, with an electromagnetic coil outside the body relaying energy to the implant. This power is responsible for the sensitivity and timing of the retinal stimulation, and according to the researchers, is highly energy efficient, thanks to reducing energy lost in transmission. The same 13.56 MHz RF signal can also transmit data, at a rate of one bit for every two cycles.

To test their system, the researchers implanted the nanowires into a cultured rat retina, which had been engineered with a degenerating disorder. The retina was hooked up to an array of microelectrodes that would record the electrical signals that, normally, would be sent to the brain, to allow the team to study the neural activity generated by the nanowires. When the device was powered up and exposed to light, the neurons fired in response, but when either the light or electricity was taken away, they remained silent, indicating that the system works as the team hoped.

The next step for the team is to conduct tests in live animals, before eventually moving on to clinical trials. Nanovision Biosciences, a spinoff company started by the researchers, is driving that future work, with an eye towards helping patients with retinal degeneration restore some of their vision.

"We have made rapid progress with the development of the world's first nanoengineered retinal prosthesis as a result of the unique partnership we have developed with the team at UC San Diego," says Scott Thorogood, CEO of Nanovision Biosciences.

The research was published in the Journal of Neural Engineering.

Link:
Nanowire retinal implant could restore sight with better resolution - New Atlas

New York Times

Patients Lose Sight After Stem Cells Are Injected Into Their Eyes New York Times The women had macular degeneration, an eye disease that causes vision loss, and they paid $5,000 each to receive stem-cell injections in 2015 at a private clinic in Sunrise, Fla. The clinic was part of a company then called Bioheart, now called U.S ... One stem cell treatment stabilizes macular degeneration, another blinds 3 patientsCNN Vision saved by first induced pluripotent stem cell treatmentNew Scientist Three women lose sight after Florida clinic injects stem cells into their eyes to improve their visionNational Post NPR -RT -BuzzFeed News -The New England Journal of Medicine all 131 news articles »

Link:
Patients Lose Sight After Stem Cells Are Injected Into Their Eyes - New York Times

Stockton, Mo.-- A bizarre theft in Cedar County has left a local woman there without her glass eye.

The prosthetic was in her purse, when the purse was stolen from her car.

Life hasn't always been a walk in the park for Krystal Horning.

Ten years ago she lost her eye sight in an accident at home.

"We were moving and my husband was busy working and I was tying down a mattress on the back of my mom and them's truck and I had a bungee cord and I was strapping the mattress down and it came back and hit me in the eye," Horning said. "This is still my regular eye they sowed it back up but I have no vision I"m completely blind."

From the beginning, Krystal's dream was to get a shell for that damaged eye, a dream that finally came true, just this month.

Then Monday, March 13, 2017 Krystal and her daughter made a quick stop at the Dollar General store, leaving her purse in the car and in it that very valuable shell.

"I told her put my wallet in my purse and she was like 'mom your purse isn't in here' and I was like 'what do you mean my purse isn't in here?'" Horning said.

The purse had been stolen and what was Krystal's new sense of confidence is gone too.

"I've waited 10 years for this....now it's just like wow I've got to go out in public again like that I mean it hurts...and I've only had it since March the 1st," Horning said.

The casual theft has robbed Krystal in a lot of different ways.

"My son wanted me to come to school with him this morning to read with him they were doing a reading thing at school and he's like no mom you don't have your eye and he's afraid that his classmates will make fun of me," Horning said.

The Lions Club is going to replaces the eye's shell, but Krystal said that means going to Memphis, Tennessee, a financial challenge in itself. Getting the eye returned would be so much better.

"Please I don't care take it somewhere leave it, the police station, give it to a friend and have someone else just bring it back," Horning said. "I just really would appreciate to have my eye back it was molded to me it's not any use to anybody else because."

It's a plea for more than an object returned, getting the eye back would mean an easier way back to normal life.

The Cedar County Sheriff's Office is asking for the anyone with information to call them.

Right now, Krystal Horning plans to head to Memphis on March 26th if her eye isn't found.

Go here to see the original:
Cedar County Sheriff's Office investigates stolen glass eye - KY3

06:00 Saturday 18 March 2017

Boston Town Football Club chairman Mick Vines has called on people to get their eyes checked after being diagnosed with glaucoma during a routine eye test.

Mr Vines, 67, first noticed a problem with his eyes while struggling to read his newspaper in February last year.

Thinking he needed a new prescription for his reading glasses, he made an appointment with the store.

Mr Vines said: At my last visit to Vision Express I was referred to the hospital to see a specialist as I had possible signs of glaucoma, but everything was ok.

I was told that I am at risk of the condition as my mum had it and was advised to keep an eye on it.

As soon as I realised I had to keep going to the window for better light to read my paper for the horse racing, which I enjoy quite a lot, I thought Id best get checked out again.

Following his eye test the optometrist made him a referral to see a consultant and he was diagnosed with primary open-angle glaucoma in his right eye.

Glaucoma is a group of eye conditions in which the optic nerve is damaged where it leaves the eye, resulting in misty and patchy vision and a gradual loss of sight.

While the damage caused is irreversible, treatment and regular monitoring can help slow or prevent vision loss, especially if detected in its early stage.

Michael was prescribed a lifelong treatment of eye drops, which he will use daily to lower the pressure in his eye and help retain useful sight.

The drops are just part of my everyday routine now and are helping; they dont sting or cause blurriness - its a small price to pay rather than go blind.

He will also have regular hospital check-ups and eye tests to monitor the condition.

Vision Express are offering a free eye test. To take part, get a coupon from the store website between March 8-26, and redeem instore by April 30, 2017.

View original post here:
Town manager calls on people to stay on the ball and get your eyes checked - Boston Standard

Because of his failing eyesight, David Bradds has to use binoculars to watch his son, Belmont star Evan Bradds, play basketball.(Photo: Michael Dann / OVC)

Evan Bradds' career at Belmont has been something that would make any parent beyond proud.

Bradds' throwback style of play has made him something of a modern day phenom who has been among the nation's highest percentage shooters the past three years.

It's been a career a parent wouldn't want to miss and one Bradds' father, David, has thoroughly enjoyed watching.

Even when he barely couldsee it.

David is suffering from failing eyesight. He lost count long ago of the number of surgeries he's had, but he knows that detached retinas in both eyes have robbed him of most of his ability to see at this point.

Evan, who has 1,896 career points and needs 24 to become Belmont's all-time leading scorer,will be back in action at 6 p.m. Wednesday when the Bruins(22-6) visitGeorgia (19-14) in the first round of the NIT.

The last time Evan played, David, 47, had to use binoculars to watch him atMunicipal Auditorium in the Ohio Valley Conference tournament earlier this month.

It's a small arena, but that's the only way David could follow the action.

"I can see people moving aroundout there on the court, but not much more than that," David said. "I can't really make out who the players are."

Evan Bradds is 24 points shy of the Belmont career scoring record.(Photo: File / The Tennessean)

David's eyesight became so poor that he was forced to stop driving a car just before Christmas. And he had been able to drive for onlythree months before that during a stretch in which his eyesight had improved temporarily.

David, who played college basketball at Dayton (1987-91) and helped the Flyers advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament as a junior, isn't looking for any sympathy.

"You know what, there are (soldiers) out there fighting for their lives; I'm doing all right," David said. "I'm going to be OK."

The bottom line is that David, who first started experiencing issues with his eyes two years ago,feels too blessed to complain.

He has a son who is carrying on the family's basketball tradition. David's father and Evan's grandfather, Gary, was an All-American at Ohio State (1961-64) who went on to play in the NBA.

"Evan plays nothing like me," David said. "He plays like my dad. I love watching the way he plays."

Evan is thankful his dad still travels from their home in Jamestown, Ohio, as often as possible for his games.

"Obviously, it means a lot; any time your dad's there it's awesome," said Evan, who is averaging 20.6 points and shooting 63.4 percent from the field.

"He's been (to) a bunch of games even since he started having problems with his eyes," Evan said. "When his eyesight is bad, he always has someone with him,like my cousin who was with him at the OVC tournament;he explains to tell him what's going on."

David hasn't allowed his vision problems to affect his desire to help Evan with his game.

"After the games, he's really good with numbers, so he will look at the stats sheet and see what happened," Evan said. "If we didn't shoot the ball well, he will ask what happened there and then ask me what kind of defense they used and we'll talk about it from there."

The good news is that David underwent cataract surgery last week, which improved his vision.

David hopes to make it to Georgia's Stegeman Coliseum for Wednesday's game.

Reach Mike Organ at morgan@tennessean.com or 615-259-8021 and on Twitter @MikeOrganWriter.

NIT

BELMONT(22-6) at GEORGIA (19-14)

When: 6 p.m. Wednesday

Where: Athens, Ga.

Radio: 104.5-FM

More:
As eyesight fails, Belmont star's dad still watches and teaches - The Tennessean

We, as Americans, aspire to be great. Its why we lead the world in creativity, innovation, and economic growth. Yet, occasionally, our efforts have unintended and potentially dangerous consequences.

Heres a good example: A proposed change to Georgia law that would allow optometrists to treat patients with injections in and around the eyes.

As the president of the Medical Association of Georgia, which represents physicians in every specialty and practice setting, I believe that this idea, albeit well intended, could place thousands of Georgians at risk of blindness and other serious eye health complications.

The proposed legislation allows optometrists (not be confused with ophthalmologists or plastic surgeons, who are physicians) to make injections and perform other delicate procedures in and around a patients eye or eyelid, procedures they simply arent qualified to perform.

The eye is obviously one of our most sensitive and important organs. And we should never cut corners when it comes to any aspect of our health care, but this is especially true when it comes to our eyes and our vision.

I applaud optometrists. They play an important role when it comes to basic eye care. Optometrists are trained to detect serious eye health issues, and they fit patients for glasses, contact lenses and similar corrective vision devices.

But sticking a hypodermic needle into or near a patients eye requires a level of expertise that should be reserved for physician specialists with the requisite, and far more considerable, education, training and experience. In fact, these procedures are so unique and require such great precision that many physicians wont attempt to perform them.

It is also worth noting that any mistakes occurring during procedures that are conducted in or near the eye can have particularly dire consequences, including infections, blurred vision, hemorrhaging and the loss of sight.

As a physician who has cared for patients in this state for more than 30 years, I agree that we should aspire to ensure that every Georgian has access to the medical care they need. But I am also confident (and extremely concerned) that passing legislation to expand optometrists scope of practice in dramatic ways would undermine patient care and could have disastrous results.

Georgians deserve access to the best medical care in the world. When it comes to procedures that are performed in or around the eye, that means access to a physician who has the requisite education and training and experience.

That is why physicians in Georgia are calling for state lawmakers to oppose any legislation that would allow optometrists to treat patients with injections in and around the eyes.

Steven M. Walsh, M.D., is president of the Medical Association of Georgia.

Original post:
Guest column: Move to approve injections by optometrists is a dangerous idea - Gainesville Times

What is glaucoma?

A disease in which there is degeneration of the Optic Nerve or Nerve of vision. This results in gradual loss of sight and, without treatment, may cause complete blindness. In many cases glaucoma is associated with a raised eye pressure. Prevalence of glaucoma in Trinidad and Tobago

The National Eye Survey of Trinidad and Tobago (NESTT) identified a 0.77 per cent blindness rate among 4,200 tested, over 40 years of age. 32 per cent of those presenting with blindness were due to glaucoma. Eye pressure and glaucoma

The eye can be thought of as a ball, which is divided into two compartments. The front compartment is filled with a watery fluid, which drains out through special channels. The pressure in the eye depends on the balance between the flow of fluid into and its drainage from the eye. In glaucoma there is obstruction of the drainage that results in accumulation of fluid leading to an increase in the pressure within the eye. How does glaucoma damage the eye?

It is thought that glaucoma damages sight by interfering with the circulation to the retina and optic nerve. Damage is shown by decrease in the field of vision. Treatment limits the amount of damage either by directly decreasing the eye pressure or by improving the circulation or both. What are the types of glaucoma?

Chronic glaucoma is the common form painless and asymptomatic in the early stages. Acute glaucoma is less common and associated with pain, redness and dimness of vision. Congenital - Children may be born with glaucoma or it may develop later in life. Hereditary a family history of glaucoma results in a higher risk of disease. Secondary glaucoma is associated with other disease, injury and some types of drugs. Who gets glaucoma?

AGE all ages can have it, glaucoma usually occurs in the older adult (over 35) and the risk increases with age. RACE chronic open angle glaucoma occurs more commonly and is more aggressive in coloured races especially those of African descent EYE DISEASE e.g. near-sighted, past eye injury FAMILY HISTORY those with parents, brothers or sisters or other family member. It can, however, skip generations. MEDICATIONS Steroid eye medications can induce glaucoma in about 7 per cent of persons. Your Ophthalmologist will monitor your eye pressure closely if you are using this steroid eye medication.

How often should I have my eyes examined?

Every 3 to 5 years if you are over 40 years. Every 1 to 2 years if you have Family history of glaucoma Had a serious eye injury in the past On steroid medication How is glaucoma detected?

Most people with glaucoma do not have any eye problem e.g. decreased vision and pain until the disease is far advanced. Treatment is most effective in the early stage of the disease. The way therefore to prevent vision loss is to have a comprehensive eye examination by an ophthalmologist. This includes: Family history questions Examination of the optic nerve (may include pictures) Eye pressure check. This test alone is not an adequate glaucoma test. Visual Field Test test of your side vision (visual field test) OCT scans of the optic nerve. Other special tests advised by your Ophthalmologist.

The eye pressure is measured at each visit to the ophthalmologist. Visual Fields and OCT scans are repeated every year. Treatment of glaucoma

FACT: glaucoma cannot be cured! It can be controlled and blindness prevented with proper treatment. Vision loss due to glaucoma cannot be restored. Treatment for glaucoma helps to slow down or prevent further damage by decreasing the pressure on the optic nerve. glaucoma a leading cause of preventable permanent blindness in the world.

Treatment of glaucoma employs the use of medications (drops). When these do not work, laser glaucoma treatment and glaucoma surgery are also available. (Note: the first glaucoma operation done in Trinidad was over 50 years ago.)

Because the prevalence of glaucoma is relatively high in the Caribbean and there are no symptoms in the early stages, the way to reduce the blindness rate is to have routine screening especially in those at higher risk from the disease e.g. over 35 years of age, or with a positive family history or other identifiable risk factors. Once diagnosed with glaucoma, it is necessary to apply medication as prescribed every day, attend regularly for eye examinations and follow the advice of your Ophthalmologist.

Presented as a public service by the Caribbean Eye Institute

Please e-mail any eye related questions and concerns to Caribeyett@icloud.com

Visit link:
Patients' guide to glaucoma - Trinidad & Tobago Express

TAMPA, Fla. (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Twenty-nine million Americans have diabetes, which can lead to a host of serious health problems; among them something called diabetic retinopathy. It's the most common cause of vision loss in diabetic patients. New treatments are helping patients stay in focus.

Linda Swiercinsky's driving days were nearly in her rearview mirror.

"My left eye, I was almost blind and I had trouble getting my driver's license back in Illinois so I knew I had to do something," Swiercinsky told Ivanhoe.

Swiercinsky has diabetic retinopathy. High blood sugar causes the capillaries in the eye to close. The blood vessels can swell and leak fluid.

Dana Deupree, M.D., FACS, a vitreoretinal surgeon at The Macula Center in Tampa, detailed. "It often can be very subtle, and that's a little bit of the problem. It can be a very silent disease."

Dr. Deupree uses an injectable drug, called Anti-Vegf, that directly blocks certain harmful proteins to get rid of leakage and bleeding.

"We numb the eye up completely and the whole process takes a couple minutes," Dr. Deupree told Ivanhoe.

He's also using this new injectable implant that slowly releases steroids into the eye over the course of three years. Swiercinsky had this procedure.

Dr. Deupree explained, "It's a very tiny implanted device. Much smaller than a grain of rice. Stays in your eye and delivers the drug and it helps stabilize these eyes. It gets the swelling down, inflammation down."

If the damage is too advanced than surgery may be needed.

Dr. Deupree said, "Saving peoples' vision is very cost effective. People who go blind, it's a horrible thing."

Now Swiercinsky's back in the driver's seat to stay.

Complications with some treatments could be increased eye pressure. Dr. Deupree said diabetics should get an eye exam at least once a year. He said prevention is the safest way to keep eye sight stable.

Contributors to this news report include: Cyndy McGrath, Supervising Producer; Emily Maza Gleason, Field Producer; Milvionne Chery, Assistant Producer; Roque Correa, Editor; Travis Bell, Videographer.

BACKGROUND: Diabetic retinopathy is the most common cause of vision loss for diabetic patients and it is the leading cause of blindness and impairment for American adults. People with either type 1 or 2 diabetes can be affected by this disease and the risk increases the longer the patient has diabetes. Between 40-45 percent of American patients who have diabetes have some stage of diabetic retinopathy, but only about half are aware of it. Women, who develop diabetes while pregnant, develop a greater risk for this eye condition. The symptoms of this condition are most of the time non-existent; for this reason most people don't realize they have the disease until they start losing their vision. Nevertheless, if a person is experiencing any of the following, they may be developing diabetic retinopathy:

* Seeing spots or floaters

* Experiencing blurred vision

* Having a dark or empty spot in the center of the vision

* Difficulty seeing at night

(Source: https://nei.nih.gov/health/diabetic/retinopathy & http://www.aoa.org/patients-and-public/eye-and-vision-problems/glossary-of-eye-and-vision-conditions/diabetic-retinopathy?sso=y)

TREATMENTS: The treatments for the eye disease depend upon how advanced the condition has become. If diabetic retinopathy is in its early stages, the common treatment will be regular monitoring; controlling blood sugar levels by diet and exercise since these can help delay the progression of the disease. If the condition advances, diabetic retinopathy is treated with scatter laser surgery. The surgery involves 1,000 to 2,000 tiny laser burns in the retina causing abnormal blood vessels to shrink. The treatment can be completed in one session, but sometimes two or three sessions are required. Scatter laser surgery can stop diabetic retinopathy from causing total blindness, but the procedure can end peripheral, color and night vision.

(Source: https://nei.nih.gov/health/diabetic/retinopathy & http://www.aoa.org/patients-and-public/eye-and-vision-problems/glossary-of-eye-and-vision-conditions/diabetic-retinopathy?sso=y)

BREAKTHROUGH TREATMENTS: New treatments for diabetic retinopathy, like anti-VEGF, have been approved by the FDA and used in patients who suffer from the condition. The procedure consists of injecting the drug into the pupil of the eye. The medication blocks certain harmful proteins in order to help reduce swelling, leakage, and the growth of unwanted abnormal blood vessels in the retina. The treatment also improves vision. The drug may be injected once, or in a series of intervals every four to six weeks. Another new treatment is an injectable implant that slowly releases steroids into the body which leads to the same results as anti-VEGF. These two new treatments can be used together in order to replace laser surgery.

(Source: https://www.aao.org/eye-health/diseases/diabetic-retinopathy-treatment & Dr. Dana Deupree)

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THIS REPORT, PLEASE CONTACT:

The Macula Center

727-789-8770

If this story or any other Ivanhoe story has impacted your life or prompted you or someone you know to seek or change treatments, please let us know by contacting Marjorie Bekaert Thomas at mthomas@ivanhoe.com

See the original post:
HealthWatch: Eye Injections Save Linda's Sight - WeAreGreenBay.com

By CAROLINE WILSON

ALMOST half of the Glasgow public may be unaware they are at greater risk of an eye condition described as the silent thief of sight because of their age.

Glaucoma most commonly affects people over 40, around 44% of the population in Scotlands largest city.

However experts say around half of cases are undetected at an early stage which can avert damage to the eye because people are not taking advantage of free NHS eye tests.

A campaign will be launched this week in Glasgow to help raise awareness of the condition.

Glaucoma is the name given to a group of eye conditions in which the main nerve to the eye (the optic nerve) is damaged where it leaves the eye.

This nerve carries information about what is being seen from the eye to the brain and, as it becomes damaged, vision is lost.

Some studies have also shown that diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease may increase the risk of developing the condition.

Marion Coull, 58, from Kilbirnie in North Ayrshire, was having a routine eye test when an optician identified a narrowing in the drainage angle of her eye.

A consultant at Ayr Hospital advised that Marion should have preventative surgery to reduce the risk of narrow-angle glaucoma.

She said: Its easy to take your sight for granted, but now more than ever I appreciate howmuch you rely on your vision in every part of your life and what a huge impact it

wouldve made if Id lost it.

Whats frightening is that I had no symptoms, so dont wait until you have something noticeably wrong with your vision to have an eye test, that way youre not risking permanent damage from any underlying conditions.

John Hughes, Development manager for the International Glaucoma Association (IGA), said: Despite close blood relatives having an increased risk of developing glaucoma, many people in at risk groups dont realise they could be affected by it.

As it can be symptomless, worryingly its often not until the glaucoma has taken hold that people seek medical attention.

We hope to encourage Glaswegians to have that regular eye test to ensure if they do have the condition that it is detected early and treated, particularly as the majority of individuals who are diagnosed early will retain useful sight for life.

As part of World Glaucoma Week, Vision Express will be bringing its Vision Van to Glasgows Enoch Square on Wednesday from 9am to 5pm.

See more here:
Warning to over 40s in Glasgow about "silent thief of sight" - Glasgow Evening Times

Fish eyes have the valuable ability to regenerate themselves if they suffer any form of damage or injury. Unfortunately, human eyes do not have the same advantage. New research, however, uncovers the details of the self-repairing mechanism in fish, which could ultimately lead to new therapies for human vision.

As we age, our eyesight declines and we may find that reading the daily newspaper is not as easy as it used to be. Apart from this normal development - called presbyopia - there are other eye conditions that come as a result of the eye's degeneration.

Age-related macular degeneration is quite common and is the leading cause of vision loss among people aged 50 and older. In the condition, the macula - a spot located near the center of the retina - is damaged, which causes blurred or distorted vision.

Retinitis pigmentosa is another group of eye disorders that affect how the retina responds to light. The condition is genetic and involves a gradual, but not total, loss of vision.

New research investigates the regenerative ability of fish eyes. The eyes of fish have the ability to recover from damage and restore sight within a few weeks, and the new research provides insights that could one day help researchers induce self-regeneration to the human eye. This could help to repair the damage caused by diseases such as age-related macular degeneration or retinitis pigmentosa.

The new study was conducted by researchers at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, TN, and led by James Patton, Stevenson Professor of Biological Sciences at Vanderbilt. The results were published in the journal Cell Reports.

The researchers started out from the hypothesis that a neurotransmitter might be responsible for retinal regeneration in fish. Fish and mammals have a very similar retinal structure, so Mahesh Rao - a graduate student and study co-author - thought of extrapolating the results of a mouse study and test them on zebrafish.

The mouse study that triggered Rao's hypothesis discovered that this neurotransmitter - called GABA - controlled the activity of some retinal stem cells. GABA neurotransmitters normally act as inhibitors, lowering a neuron's ability to excite the neurons around it. GABA neurotransmitters are very prevalent in the brain, occurring in 30 to 40 percent of all the synapses.

Among other cells, the retina also contains a type of stem cell called Mller glia. In humans and other mammals, these cells provide "architectural support" that traverse all of the retina's layers - but in fish, these glial cells also play a crucial role in regeneration.

During the regenerative process, these cells undergo a form of regression called dedifferentiation, meaning that they go from a specialized state back to a more general, simpler state. They then differentiate again, but this time into replacements for the nerve cells that were damaged.

In their zebrafish experiment, Rao and colleagues tested their hypothesis by alternately stimulating and lowering the production of GABA with the help of an enzyme they injected.

They found that high levels of GABA in the retina keep the Mller glia inactive. When retinal GABA levels decrease, the glial cells start to dedifferentiate and then proliferate, as part of the regenerative process.

The study's lead author explains the findings and the contribution of the research:

"The prevailing belief has been that the regeneration process in fish retinas is triggered by secreted growth factors, but our results indicate that the neurotransmitter GABA might initiate the process instead [...] Our theory is that a drop in GABA concentration is the trigger for regeneration. It initiates a cascade of events that includes the activation of the Mller glia and the production of various growth factors that stimulate cell growth and proliferation. If we are correct, then it might be possible to stimulate human retinas to repair themselves by treating them with a GABA inhibitor."

James Patton

In the future, the researchers plan to investigate whether GABA is also responsible for the cell differentiation that creates new photoreceptors and other specialized retinal nerve cells.

Learn how stem cell secretions may help to treat glaucoma.

See the original post:
Zebrafish study sheds light on the eye's ability to regenerate - Medical News Today

NASA astronaut Michael Barratt watches a water bubble float by on board the Discovery in 2011. NASA hide caption

NASA astronaut Michael Barratt watches a water bubble float by on board the Discovery in 2011.

Spending time in space changes people: Not just their outlook on life, but also their eyesight.

For years, a North Texas doctor has been trying to find out what is causing this vision change among astronauts. His latest research provides some clues and connects astronauts on the International Space Station, cancer patients on a roller coaster plane flight, and high-tech sleeping sacks.

After spending six months on the International Space Station, Michael Barratt had a strange request when he finally stepped foot on Earth.

He wanted a spinal tap.

Barratt isn't a masochist, he's a NASA astronaut. While flying hundreds of miles above Earth in 2009, he noticed his vision was changing. He was struggling to read manuals and checklists.

An image of astronaut Michael Barratt's right eye shows some of the changes in shape after long-duration space flight. Courtesy of NASA hide caption

An image of astronaut Michael Barratt's right eye shows some of the changes in shape after long-duration space flight.

"I spent a lot of time on the Russian segment as well. When you're reading in Russian in small print in a dark place, and your visual acuity starts to tank, you notice it!" Barratt says.

Barratt is also a very curious physician, which brings us to his request for a spinal tap to check the pressure in his brain. He knew he wasn't the first astronaut whose vision had changed while in space, and he hoped sticking a needle into his back might provide a clue to his vision loss. The leading theory at the time was that microgravity raises pressure in the head and reshapes the eyeballs, which could be problematic for long-term space travel to places like Mars.

"This is a medical issue that affects a large percentage of people who fly in space," Barratt says. "So the stakes are extremely high."

Scientists know that when people go into space, the fluid normally below their hearts goes into their heads. But is it creating enough pressure to damage the eyes? Does it flatten them and affect the optic nerve? Or is there something else at play?

Dr. Benjamin Levine is on a mission to find out. He's a professor at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center and Director of the Institute for Exercise and Environmental Medicine. Instead of sticking needles in astronauts' backs, though, Levine decided to stick needles inside the brains of specific people who stay on Earth.

Trent Barton, a volunteer for the study looking at pressure inside the brain during space flights. Courtesy of David Ham hide caption

Trent Barton, a volunteer for the study looking at pressure inside the brain during space flights.

He found eight healthy cancer survivors who still had ports in their heads, once used to deliver chemotherapy. Those ports would allow him to directly measure their intracranial pressure.

Then, he convinced them to get on a plane for a sort of extreme roller coaster ride to simulate the zero gravity found on the ISS.

You know that feeling of weightlessness when you drop on a roller coaster? Well, these folks did that, except they plunged 8,000 feet in 30 seconds, dozens of times, all in the name of science.

Trent Barton, a lymphoma survivor from Dallas, went on the wild trip above the Texas-Mexico border.

"I enjoyed each and every rotation we did," Barton says.

Dr. Justin Lawley, instructor in internal medicine at University of Texas Southwestern, floating in zero gravity. Courtesy of David Ham hide caption

Dr. Justin Lawley, instructor in internal medicine at University of Texas Southwestern, floating in zero gravity.

During the flight, a needle in the port in his head monitored the pressure in the fluid surrounding his brain.

Turns out, Levine says, space flight doesn't cause pressure to be much higher than it is when you or I are standing up. But, it is a little higher. He published the results in The Journal of Physiology.

But, unlike us earthlings, astronauts never get to rest their brains in lower pressure. When they're standing up in zero gravity, the fluid stays in their heads and won't go to their feet. So, researchers like Levine are now trying to find a way to give these astronaut brains a rest. So we now think this mild but persistent pressure may be the thing that's stimulating remodeling the eye and causing the visual impairment," Levine says.

"We've been working with UnderArmour, the garment company, to come up with a soft, but comfortable almost like a sleeping sack or pair of trousers, that you can put on at night, hook up to a vacuum cleaner, suck the blood and fluid into the feet and unload the heart and the brain while you're sleeping," he says.

Astronaut Dr. Mike Barratt says he'd be willing to try the sleeping sack, but he also wants to do more tests on the ISS to better understand intracranial pressure before we send astronauts deeper into space.

As for Barratt's eyesight, six years after his flight?

"It's my right eye that has apparently been permanently remodeled," Barratt says. "Other than that, I'm totally normal."

In other words, he's still the same curious doctor, he just sees things a bit differently now that he's back on Earth.

Read the original post:
Doctor Launches Vision Quest To Help Astronauts' Eyeballs - NPR

Glaucoma has slowly robbed David Clark of his sight.

The father-of-two has had to take early retirement, quit reading and even avoid the city centre.

The retired scientist is one of tens of thousands of Scots suffering progressive loss of sight, with 1,340 people having been diagnosed in Dundee alone.

Glaucoma a condition where the optic nerve which connects the eye to the brain becomes damaged is the second largest cause of blindness in the UK.

And, according to the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) Scotland, it is estimated that almost half of those affected do not even know they have it. David spoke to the Tele ahead of World Glaucoma Week, which starts on Sunday.

The 71-year-old from Downfield said: I have always had poor eyesight. But it didnt stop me for many years.

By 1980, I was beginning to feel symptoms, particularly pressure in my eyes and white spots.

I was diagnosed with glaucoma and prescribed eye drops. I used them religiously I was only in my mid-thirties. But by 2001, my vision had deteriorated significantly and I had to take the early retirement opportunity that was offered. It became too difficult to do my job I was a biomedical scientist in haematology and it was a major thing for me.

My eyes were so important to my job. Of course it was disappointing, very disappointing. However, I had about six months to get used to it.

But not being able to drive and difficulty moving around when its dark, are difficult to deal with.

It can be tricky going into town. Places like the bottom of Reform Street, where you have people going in all directions and sometimes fast, can be really tricky. The entrances to the shopping centres can be tough as well. I tend to avoid those areas now its become too difficult.

Everything is slow and steady with glaucoma. My eyes and vision have just deteriorated little by little to where we are now.

David has lost all sight in his right eye and only has 25% in his left eye.

He has had three operations to try to steady the deterioration; a surgical procedure called trabeculectomy, used in the treatment of glaucoma to relieve pressure in the eye.

They have not been very successful for him, but he said the procedure was often a great success.

David wants to encourage people to be aware of the condition and seek treatment as soon as possible.

He added: In some ways, its the people who have great eyesight who are most at risk.

This is because theyre less likely to get regular eye tests.

Glaucoma is often first diagnosed by an optician.

RNIB Scotland director Campbell Chalmers said: Glaucoma has been nicknamed the sneak-thief of sight because its effects are usually unnoticeable until a relatively advanced stage.

By then the damage is done. Glaucoma doesnt have any symptoms in its early stages so people can lose up to 40% of their sight before they realise they have a problem.

We need to ensure that people are diagnosed early so that they do not reach the stage where sight loss is irreversible.

Regular eye tests, which are free in Scotland, are vital if glaucoma is to be detected early and sight loss prevented.

See more here:
'Glaucoma has stolen my sight', says former scientist David - Evening Telegraph

Clinical trial gives hope for those with blindness

Sonia Azad, WFAA 8:23 AM. CST March 08, 2017

Dr. David Birch with the Restina Foundation of the Southwest speaks about a new clinical trial that could help restore eyesight for those suffering from the genetic disorder XLRS.

DALLAS -- Doctors in Dallas are offering new hope for people living with a rare genetic eye disorder called X-linked retinoschisis, or XLRS. Right now there is no treatment or cure, but a new clinical trial might be able to restore their eyesight over time.

Trevor Sorrels, 18, is in college in Corpus Christi. The avid scuba diver is an aspiring marine biologist.

He would like to study squids, said mom Karen. There's not a lot known about the different species of squids."

But its getting more difficult for Trevor to see, and glasses dont help.

Three of my brothers are affected by it, said Karen of the genetic disorder XLRS.

Like his uncles, Trevor was born with it, too. XLRS is a rare hereditary disease affecting boys. It usually becomes apparent by age four or five.

They don't produce a protein that's crucial for keeping the retina together, said Dr. David Birch, research director at the Retina Foundation of the Southwest. So what they get is a splitting."

When layers of your retina split, less information is passed from the eye to the brain, and there is a risk for detachment of the retina.

The further damage can lead to blindness, said Dr. Birch. There are patients that go blind in their 40s or 50s."

Dr. Birch is excited about a first-of-its-kind gene therapy treatment. He said that by injecting a healthy copy of the mutated gene into Trevors eye, just one time, the gaps in the retina could eventually close over time. His vision would improve on its own.

It's interesting and helpful and exciting, said Karen, who added that she just hopes for her son to live a normal life. A life that would allow Trevor to see clearly -- and for mom to breathe a sigh of relief when hes underwater.

I said as long as you can see the sharks, I'm okay, joked Karen.

Twenty-seven patients will be enrolled in this clinical trial in six places in the country. Dallas is one of them.

For more information go here.

2017 WFAA-TV

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Clinical trial aims to help restore eyesight - WFAA.com

According to some scientists, it was vision, rather than mobility, that let fish evolve to land-dwelling creatures. A team of researchers examined old fossil data and are arguing that vision was the primary reason that fish made the jump to land hundreds of millions of years ago.

Researchers Malcolm A. MacIver of Northwestern University and Lars Schmitz of Claremont McKenna, Scripps, and Pitzer colleges analyzed fossilized fish before and after they made the transition to land. They found that the size of eyes nearly tripled prior to moving onto land, suggesting that eyesight played a strong role in this stage of evolution.

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Their reasoning is that light can travel much further on land than in the water. Larger eyes would have been almost useless underwater, but the large increase in eye size suggests a significant evolutionary drive. MacIver and Schmitz account for this by suggesting that pre-terrestrial fish used their eyes to spot food on the shore.

Insects and other invertebrates made the jump to land around 50 million years before fish did, so for a prehistoric fish, the shores would have been teeming with food just out of reach. Over millions of years, many fish species evolved better eyes as well as limbs to reach more of it.

This increased vision may have also led to increased brain size. In the water, where vision is minimal, the majority of brainpower is devoted to quick reflexes. But on land, being able to see further lends itself well to planning and strategy, and could have fostered what is known as prospective cognition, the ability to consider multiple outcomes and plan for the future.

Source: Northwestern University

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Vision Might Have Kickstarted Evolution on Land - Popular Mechanics

For many low-income residents across rural Alabama, the everyday world is a dim and blurry place.

Durden Dean, executive director, Alabama Lions Sight Conservation Association, said 250,000 to 300,000 people statewide cant afford insurance, dont qualify for Medicaid or are not old enough for Medicare. Senior citizens are the fastest-growing population in Alabama, yet they are the most underserved, especially when it comes to receiving necessary eye care, he said.

To help meet this need, Alabama Lions Sight unveiled a Mobile Eye and Vision Clinic in Birmingham on Feb. 24. Since 1944, Alabama Lions Sight has provided services to more than 350,000 people and has worked to save sight through research, education, detection and treatment.

Many people in rural communities cant afford eye care, or they dont have transportation to an area where they can get it, so they basically do without, Dean said. We feel like we have an obligation to offer eye care to those communities where people cant get it.

Alabama Lions Sight fufills a vision of community with mobile eye clinic from Alabama NewsCenter on Vimeo.

The first of its kind in the state, the fully equipped clinic on wheels provides comprehensive eye care to senior citizens and indigent people in Alabamas Black Belt and Appalachian regions.

Services include eye exams, case management and patient care coordination, free transportation to prescribed treatment and follow-up support. Patients will be checked for diseases, such as cataracts, glaucoma and diabetes. Those needing glasses will either receive a prescription or have the opportunity to choose from frames available through the clinic.

We see people who havent had eye care in a while, said Dr. Kent Daum, director of the traveling clinic and retired UAB professor of optometry. We see people who have eye infections, glaucoma or diabetes, or who need glasses, just like other clinics. The difference is the conditions are very concentrated because people havent been treated for a long time.

The new clinic has been on the road since Feb. 12, but Alabama Sight actually began piloting its mobile program last year. Since then, Daum has seen about 1,500 patients at 17 healthcare clinics in 14 counties.

The clinic has made stops at healthcare centers in Hale, Marengo, Sumter, Perry, Pickens, Dallas, Wilcox, Lowndes, Autauga, Elmore, Chilton, Coosa, Greene and Montgomery counties. Some of the many communities that have received visits are Carrollton, Eutaw, Greensboro, Pineapple, Selma, Hayneville and Eclectic.

The Alabama Lions first Mobile Eye and Vision Clinic has hit the road to bring eye care to thousands of underserved Alabamians. Dr. Kent Daum, the clinics director, talks with a group at the official launch. (Michael Tomberlin/Alabama NewsCenter)

The Alabama Lions Mobile Eye and Vision Clinic is stocked with eyeglasses for people in the communities it visits. (Michael Tomberlin/Alabama NewsCenter)

Gunner Hewitt gets his picture made in front of the Alabama Lions Mobile Eye and Vision Clinic, which sports an image of Gunner on its side. (Michael Tomberlin/Alabama NewsCenter)

The Alabama Lions first Mobile Eye and Vision Clinic has hit the road to bring eye care to thousands of underserved Alabamians. (Michael Tomberlin/Alabama NewsCenter)

Daum said the clinic has made a dramatic difference. Instead of taking more than an hour a day to load and reload equipment into a van, Daum can now spend all his time in each community treating patients.

Weve had a very exciting first year, Daum said. Weve been out about 186 times. Almost every person we see needs glasses. About a third of our patients have diabetes and 15 percent have glaucoma or something related to it. Its such a privilege to have the opportunity to help these people.

As part of its efforts to provide lasting support for senior citizens and underprivileged people in rural areas, Alabama Lions Sight plans to establish a vision resource community that will include Lions Clubs, optometrists, ophthalmologists, hospitals and clinics statewide.

Were excited about really being able to reach out and move into the 21st century as far as providing eye care in the state of Alabama, Dean said. Through the mobile clinic, we are actually taking vision services to the communities. We are doing comprehensive eye exams, providing glasses on site and offering free transportation to those who need advanced eye care. Right now, were in 14 counties. Our ultimate goal is to be in every county in the state.

See more here:
Alabama Lions Sight takes services on the road with state's first Mobile Eye and Vision Clinic - Alabama NewsCenter

CNET's San Francisco headquarters as seen through the Sight Simulator's retinopathy filter on its highest setting.

What does the world look like if you're legally blind? A new interactive website lets you see through the eyes of those suffering from three conditions that impair sight.

The Sight Simulator is part of a campaign called See Now, aimed at increasing awareness of vision loss and calling for more Congressional funding to combat it in the US. The Simulator places filters that mimic the effects of cataracts, glaucoma and retinopathy on top of Google Street View images, enabling visitors to the site to move the slider and increase the severity of each ailment.

Looking at CNET's headquarters on the highest retinopathy setting showed me my familiar workplace blurry and obscured by dark splotches. With the glaucoma setting at its highest, I only saw a bright oval surrounded by black. The cataracts filter displayed a building so fuzzy it was hard to discern details.

"We believe when people experience what it would be like to lose their sight, from seeing what their own street looks like with poor vision, they will appreciate the problem in a way they never did before," Erin McCallum of the See Now campaign said in a statement. "Hopefully this will motivate many people to look after their own eye health and push them to take action to help prevent blindness in others."

The minimum setting on the site for all three conditions shows a view matching legal blindness. It's defined in the US as central visual acuity of 20/200 or less in the better eye with the best possible correction, and/or a visual field of 20 degrees or less, according to the American Foundation for the Blind.

"Legal blindness is not binary," the See Now site points out. "For most people with vision impairment, it's not a matter of seeing nothing versus seeing clearly. The reality is somewhere in between."

Yet four out of five people who are blind don't need to be, See Now asserts, saying a single doctor's visit or screening can prevent or cure the world's most common vision problems.

The See Now campaign was created in partnership with Prevent Blindness, an organization devoted to fighting blindness and saving sight, and is calling for increased federal funding to tackle eye health. More than 47,000 people have signed a petition asking Congress to dedicate $6.3 million to making eye care across the country more accessible.

This isn't the first time digital tools have helped the public view a health condition from a personal perspective.

A few years back, a campaign to increase awareness of the most common form of dementia put people in Facebook photos of fake events, aiming to give them a momentary sense of what the disease might feel like.

The cataracts filter, at its most severe setting, renders a familiar sight fuzziness.

CNET Magazine: Check out a sampling of the stories you'll find in CNET's newsstand edition.

Life, disrupted: In Europe, millions of refugees are still searching for a safe place to settle. Tech should be part of the solution. But is it? CNET investigates.

Read more:
Sight Simulator shows you what it's like to be legally blind - CNET

Yvonne Felix wears eSight electronic glasses and looks around Union Square during a visit to San Francisco. Felix was diagnosed with Stargardt s disease after being hit by a car age 7. AP PHOTO

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Jeff Regan was born with underdeveloped optic nerves and had spent most of his life in a blur. Then four years ago, he donned an unwieldy headset made by a Toronto company called eSight.

Suddenly, Regan could read a newspaper while eating breakfast and make out the faces of his co-workers from across the room. He's been able to attend plays and watch what's happening on stage, without having to guess why people around him were laughing.

"These glasses have made my life so much better," said Regan, 48, a Canadian engineer who lives in London, Ontario.

The headsets from eSight transmit images from a forward-facing camera to small internal screens -- one for each eye -- in a way that beams the video into the wearer's peripheral vision. That turns out to be all that some people with limited vision, even legal blindness, need to see things they never could before. That's because many visual impairments degrade central vision while leaving peripheral vision largely intact.

Although eSight's glasses won't help people with total blindness, they could still be a huge deal for the millions of peoples whose vision is so impaired that it can't be corrected with ordinary lenses.

But eSight still needs to clear a few minor hurdles. Among them: proving the glasses are safe and effective for the legally blind. While eSight's headsets don't require the approval of health regulators -- they fall into the same low-risk category as dental floss -- there's not yet firm evidence of their benefits.

The headsets also carry an eye-popping price tag. The latest version of the glasses, released in mid-February, sells for about $10,000. While that's $5,000 less than its predecessor, it's still a lot for people who often have trouble getting high-paying jobs because they can't see.

Insurers won't cover the cost; they consider the glasses an "assistive" technology similar to hearing aids.

ESight CEO Brian Mech said the latest improvements might help insurers overcome their short-sighted view of his product. Mech argues that it would be more cost-effective for insurers to pay for the headsets, even in part, than to cover more expensive surgical procedures that may restore some sight to the visually impaired.

The latest version of ESight's technology, built with investments of $32 million over the past decade, is a gadget that vaguely resembles the visor worn by the blind "Star Trek" character Geordi La Forge, played by LeVar Burton.

The third-generation model lets wearers magnify the video feed up to 24 times, compared to just 14 times in earlier models. There's a hand control for adjusting brightness and contrast. The new glasses also come with a more powerful high-definition camera.

ESight believes that about 200 million people worldwide with visual acuity of 20/70 to 20/1200 could be potential candidates for its glasses. That number includes people with a variety of disabling eye conditions such as macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, ocular albinism, Stargardt's disease, or, like Regan, optic nerve hypoplasia.

So far, though, the company has sold only about 1,000 headsets, despite the testimonials of wearers who've become true believers.

Take, for instance, Yvonne Felix, an artist who now works as an advocate for eSight after seeing the previously indistinguishable faces of her husband and two sons for the first time via its glasses. Others, ranging from kids to senior citizens, have worn the gadgets to golf, watch football or just perform daily tasks such as reading nutrition labels.

ESight isn't the only company focused on helping the legally blind. Other companies working on high-tech glasses and related tools include Aira, Orcam, ThirdEye, NuEyes and Microsoft .

But most of them are doing something very different. While their approaches also involve cameras attached to glasses, they don't magnify live video. Instead, they take still images, analyze them with image recognition software and then generate an automated voice that describes what the wearer is looking at -- anything from a child to words written on a page.

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New glasses provide eyesight for blind - Sentinel & Enterprise

The former glamour model had to get her husband Tom to have some glasses specially made and delivered into the house because of her condition

NICOLA McLean has revealed she is practically BLIND in one eye because of a rare condition.

The former glamour model was attacked by cruel trolls during her stint on Celebrity Big Brother earlier this year after she was seen covering one of her eyes when she argued with Kim Woodburn.

Splash News

And speaking exclusively to The Sun Online at a celebrity event on Tuesday night, Nicola revealed how her sight started to go just two months before entering the Big Brother house.

She said: I have always had bad eyesight in my left eye but my right eye has always been fine and then about two months before Big Brother I noticed my eyesight changing.

Now I can barely see out of this eye, Im talking barely see, Ive got a contact in it now.

Rex Features

Basically whats happened is, this right eye, I cant see out of but its also developed an adult squint, which is so rare.

Thats why I was so paranoid about it, as what would happen is, I would take the contact lens out, get in bed, then all the arguments would kick off so Id have to cover my eye.

Rex Features

I cant focus with it, so it wanders, without glasses or a contact it just wanders everywhere because I cant see out of it.

Nicola who was born with a squint in her left eye which was later rectified added her doctors think a potential cause could be pregnancy-related diabetes from when she had her two sons, Rocky and Striker.

While the diagnosis isnt clear yet, the 35-year-old added her squint is rectifiable, but it doesnt address her vision issues.

She said: The muscles at the back need to be tightened and that will rectify it being straight, but I still wont be able to see out of it.

A squint - known by its medical term strabismus - is where the eyes point in different directions.

The condition is common in kids, with one in 20 likely to have a squint.

And while they typically appear before the age of five, adults can be treated for the condition.

Squints that develop later in life are known as acquired squints.

They may be caused by the eye attempting to overcome a vision problem, such as short or long-sightedness.

In some cases they are genetic, while in most cases the cause is unknown.

Squints can be treated, with glasses, eye exercise and in some cases corrective surgery to tighten or move some of the eye muscles to change the eye's position.

Source: Moorfields Eye Hospital

"So we need to work out why the visions gone from being OK to so bad.

"Im OK because with a contact or my glasses its fine, mines not a lazy eye its a proper squint, so if I took my contact lens out now it would just wander.

"It can be corrected but its very, very rare to get an adult squint so thats what it was, I didnt want to be on tele with an eye wandering so Id cover it.

"If I dont cover the right one I cant see out of the left one, because when the right one shuts down the left one does, so I needed to cover the right to be able to see.

Fame Flynet

"It is quite bad but Ill be able to get it sorted."

Nicola's condition was never fully explained during her time on Celebrity Big Brother, and she also revealed her husband Tom Williams had to get some glasses especially made for her and have them sent in.

Fame Flynet

She continued: "It all happened so quickly before Big Brother.

"I had contacts but the air conditioning was making my contacts dry, so Tom had to get me glasses made and sent into the house, which is why I only started wearing them half way through."

Fame Flynet

Nicola's now in consultations with an eye hospital about her condition and finding a date to correct it.

She added: "We just need to know why its happened.

"The prescription to go from good to as bad as it is is not normal . Its quite concerning."

See original here:
Nicola McLean reveals she's virtually BLIND in one eye just weeks after being bullied by cruel trolls mocking her ... - The Sun

SYRACUSE, N.Y.

It is degenerative eye disease that could eventually leave Stephanie Harmon blind.

Retinitis pigmentosa has forced the Salina mother to quit her job as she tries to raise two teenagers.

"To lose your vision. It is one of the scariest things. But I had 40 plus years of it, so I was blessed with that. I could have had nothing my whole life," Harmon said.

Four years ago, Harmon was diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa, or RP, a disease where part of the retina slowly deteriorates.

It is fairly rare, affecting about one out of 4,000 people.

Imagine slowly losing your peripheral vision, your eyesight closing in . That is what Harmon said retinitis pigmentosa is like. She said right now for here, it is like each eye is looking through a toilet paper tube.

"It's just the little things, learning braille because it's way easier now while I still have some of my vision left than to do it while have nothing. It's little things like that but once you start accepting those things then you're really accepting that you have this," Harmon said.

Stephanie does not know if she will lose all her sight, but she is taking in all she can while she still has time.

There are things on top of my list that I want to do. I jumped out of plane last summer. Something that I'll be able to take with me forever and have that vision in my head," Harmon said.

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Salina mother slowly losing eyesight wants to get the word out about rare disorder - CNYcentral.com

Robots, surveillance cameras and drones could one day detect changes to their environment far more quickly and efficiently, using a vision system based on the way the human eye and brain process information.

The EPSRC-funded Internet of Silicon Retinas (IOSIRE) project, led by researchers from Kings College London and also involving University College London and Kingston University, is aiming to develop advanced machine-to-machine communication systems that capture and transmit images from highly efficient vision sensors mimicking the human retina.

Conventional cameras generate entirely new images for each frame, despite the fact that much of the picture remains the same as that of the previous one. This wastes a considerable amount of memory, computing power and time, according to the UCL principal investigator Yiannis Andreopoulos.

If you are processing an image to analyse what is happening in a scene, you often end up throwing away most of the background information, because you are only interested in particular shapes or objects, he said.

In contrast, recently developed dynamic vision sensors (DVS) mimic the way the retina works, by only updating the image at those points where a movement or change in the scene has occurred. When an object moves within a scene it reflects light, which is detected instantly by the sensor, said Andreopoulos.

This significantly increases the speed at which the sensors can produce video frames, resulting in rates of up to 1000 frames per second compared to 20-30 frames per second for conventional cameras.

And because it is not recording the background, just any changes in the scene, the power consumption is very low just 10 to 20 milliwatts compared to up to 200 milliwatts, said Andreopoulos.

Basic processing of images produced by the DVS camera could be carried out locally by the device itself, to produce information needed there and then.

But certain information could also be transmitted to a server in the cloud, at which point more advanced processing and analysis could be carried out, said Andreopoulos.

This resembles the way the mammalian eye is thought to capture scene information, and then transmit it to the visual cortex where the information is processed to generate the three-dimensional rendering of the scene that we see.

In a way, this gives us the illusion that we see this 3D super high-resolution world, but in reality there is very little information being captured by the eye, and to a large extent, the rest is rendered in the brain, said Andreopoulos.

The researchers are aiming for a 100-fold decrease in the amount of energy consumed by the system, when compared to conventional designs for pixel-based visual processing and transmission over machine-to-machine networks.

The project involves Thales, Ericsson, neuromorphic technologies specialist iniLabs, Keysight Technologies UK, and semiconductor company MediaTek.

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Project looks at human eye to sharpen sight of robots and drones - The Engineer