New direction for BHVI
Australia’s Brien Holden Vision Institute has announced a change in leadership and a shift in focus to address future needs for both the ophthalmic industry and the public health sector.The Board of
Staff reporters3 min read
Ophthalmology News
Australia funds diabetes screening
The Australian government’s decision to develop a national diabetes eye screening programme is a major step in the fight against diabetes-related vision loss and blindness, according to diabetes and eye health groups. Australian Health Minister Greg Hunt announced an initial $1 million for year one
Staff reporters3 min read
RANZCO: first female president
Dr Heather Mack will become the first female president of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Ophthalmologists (RANZCO) at the RANZCO Congress in Adelaide, in November. A senior, Melbourne-based consultant with a focus on visual electrophysiology and medical retinal disorders, Dr Mack h
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RANZCO NZ 2018: Conference report
The 2018 RANZCO New Zealand branch annual scientific meeting was held in the heart of Auckland city, at the Hilton Hotel from 11-12 May. Incorporating parallel conferences for the New Zealand
Dr Keli Matheos8 min read
New markers for eye disease
Scientists have discovered 19 new genetic markers that could predict the risk of eye disease, bringing the total number of known variants to 45. The genome-wide study of 25,000 people almost doubles the number of known genetic variants that affect how thick the cornea is, according to findings publi
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Non-surgical laser vision correction
Columbia Engineering researcher, Professor Sinisa Vukelic has developed a new non-invasive approach to permanently correct vision without causing tissue damage that shows great promise in preclinical models. In his research, using a femtosecond oscillator - an ultrafast laser that delivers pulses
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Is reading at night better?
Reading in the morning may accelerate myopia, according to new research from Flinders University. “Our results show that changes in the length of the eye in response to visual blur, which causes myopia, are dependent on the time of the day,” says optometrist Dr Ranjay Chakraborty, a senior lecturer
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Sense of touch for robots?
Stanford and Seoul National University researchers have developed an artificial nerve system which gives prosthetic devices and robots reflexes and a sense of touch. The joint US-Korean work, reported in Science, brings creating artificial skin for prosthetic limbs and restoring sensation to amputee
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RANZCO launches Kiwi’fied AMD guidelines
The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Ophthalmologists (RANZCO) launched its age-related macular degeneration (AMD) management guidelines, tailored to New Zealand, at its annual conference in Auckland. The guidelines provide an evidence-based resource for optometrists, GPs and other healt
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Healthy eyes unexpectedly harbour virus
Researchers at the Lions Eye Institute (LEI) have discovered that contrary to expectations, a common virus triggers long-lasting inflammation in the eyes of hosts with a healthy immune system. Healthy eyes have been considered largely inaccessible to viruses, as well as “immune privileged”, meaning
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Tailored hybrid CLs
The Brien Holden Vision Institute has joined forces with a leading hybrid speciality contact lens company to provide a tailored hybrid contact lens, so eye care professionals can meet the needs of individual myopes and presbyopes, and deliver precise correction and a high degree of comfort. Brien H
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More AV/AR eye tracking tech
Strong demand for eye tracking technology integration in augmented reality (AT) and virtual reality (VR) devices has lead to another collaboration, this time between transparent display maker Lumus and eye tracking developer Tobii Tech. Prototypes of the Lumus DK50 AR development kit with integrated
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