Back in January of this year, Google unveiled an electronic contact lens that it’s been secretly developing by its X research group. The device is capable of measuring glucose levels in the wearer’s tears, a technology that may one day replace finger pricks for millions of diabetics. Additionally, there are plans to embed LED (Read more...)
Category: News
Could eye and smell tests offer early Alzheimer’s diagnosis?
Four new studies presented at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference 2014 suggest that eye and smell tests could be used for early detection of Alzheimer’s.
Advanced Cell Diagnostics’ in situ hybridization technology reaches two major milestones
Advanced Cell Diagnostics Inc. (ACD), a leader in the field of molecular pathology and developer of cell and tissue-based analysis tools, has announced that its RNAscope® RNA in situ hybridization technology has reached two major milestones. In just three years, over 100 peer-reviewed papers featuring the technology have been published, and with the significant increase in use of RNAscope, ACD has now built a library of over 4000 target probes for numerous species. Probes are designed to order in under two weeks, and in just six months the library has (Read more...)
Morning Break: Smart Lenses, ‘I’m Not Dead!’
(MedPage Today) — Health news and commentary from around the Web, gathered by the MedPage Today staff.
DARPins could revolutionize protein therapeutics
Integrating an INTEGRA VIAFLO 96 multichannel pipette into their high throughput expression facility has enabled Molecular Partners (Zurich, Switzerland) to streamline the discovery and development of a novel class of targeted protein therapeutics term…
Acute glaucoma is largely an inflammatory disease, say researchers
Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and Sun Yat-sen University in China have shown that acute glaucoma in mice is largely an inflammatory disease and that high pressure in the eye causes vision loss by setting in m…
Eye Scans May Reveal Amyloid Plaque Burdens
COPENHAGEN (MedPage Today) — Amyloid plaque burden in the brain may be estimated indirectly via retinal or ocular lens imaging techniques, which would be easier than the expensive PET scans now available, researchers said here.
Cataract Surgery May Cut Cognitive Decline in Dementia
Cataract surgery may reduce the rate of cognitive decline and improve vision, cognition, and quality of life in dementia patients. Medscape Medical News
Animal study of cellular stress in degenerative illnesses finds new compound to treat blindness and diabetes
In a new study led by UC San Francisco (UCSF) scientists, a chemical compound designed to precisely target part of a crucial cellular quality-control network provided significant protection, in rats…
Four research trials show smell and eye tests offer potential to detect Alzheimer’s early
A decreased ability to identify odors might indicate the development of cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s disease, while examinations of the eye could indicate the build-up of beta-amyloid, a…
Noninvasive retinal imaging device may provide highly predictive early detection of changes associated with Alzheimer’s disease
A noninvasive optical imaging device developed at Cedars-Sinai can provide early detection of changes that later occur in the brain and are a classic sign of Alzheimer’s disease, according to…
Apoptotic retinal ganglion cells reduced in diabetes by Inhibition of NgR expression
Activation of Nogo receptor (NgR) is an essential factor of nerve regeneration inhibition, neuronal atrophy and even apoptosis.
Vision loss patients benefit from personalized gene therapy using patient-specific stem cells
Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) researchers have created a way to develop personalized gene therapies for patients with retinitis pigmentosa (RP), a leading cause of vision loss.
Cataract surgery for people with dementia slows cognition decline, improves quality of life
Cataract surgery for people with Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias not only improves vision but can slow decline in cognition and improve quality of life for both people with the disease and their caregivers, according to clinical trial results r…
Dead Bounceback and Don’t BARF: The FOAMed Report
(MedPage Today) — A regular update of emergency department must-reads from Free Open Access Meducation (FOAMed). Here are seven recent items.
New chemical compound protects against blindness and diabetes in animals
In a new study led by UC San Francisco scientists, a chemical compound designed to precisely target part of a crucial cellular quality-control network provided significant protection, in rats and mice, against degenerative forms of blindness and diabetes.
New approach for developing personalized gene therapies to treat retinitis pigmentosa
Columbia University Medical Center researchers have created a way to develop personalized gene therapies for patients with retinitis pigmentosa (RP), a leading cause of vision loss.
Rehab for age-related loss of vision cuts depression risk in half
Research finds that a technique called behavioral activation leads to a 50% decrease in the chances of people with age-related macular degeneration developing clinical depression.
Novel Eye Measure Finds Neuropathy in Prediabetes
Corneal confocal microscopy detected evidence of small-fiber neuropathy in patients who don’t even have diabetes yet but who have impaired glucose tolerance. Medscape Medical News
Integrated therapies can reduce depression by half among people with low vision due to AMD
The first clinical trial to examine integrated low vision and mental health treatment has shown that the approach can reduce the incidence of depression by half among people with low vision due to age-related macular degeneration (AMD).