Paradigm Medical Industries plans to introduce the Glaid-PERG electrophysiology instrument for the early detection of Glaucoma at the American Society for Cataract Refractive Surgeons (ASCRS) Conference in Chicago, Illinois, in April. The company’s CEO Raymond Cannefax said, “All research and studies indicate the Glaid-PERG diagnostic device is the earliest means of detecting cellular losses attributed to glaucoma and other ocular ailments.” The early diagnosis of Glaucoma, which causes the most cases of vision loss, will help reduce these cases.

Researchers at the University of Utah School of Medicine and other institutes have announced that age-related macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy could be prevented or reversed by activating a protein, Robo4, in blood vessel cells through drugs. The research was conducted in mice models simulating age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and diabetic retinopathy. The protein acted by inhibiting abnormal blood vessel growth and preventing leakage by stabilizing blood vessels.

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American and Chinese researchers say that a new treatment for lazy eye has shown encouraging results in 20-year-old volunteers. The disease is also known as amblyopia and is considered to be irreversible after the age of eight years. The new method is called perceptual learning and uses training with simple visual tasks for vision improvement.

arGentis Pharmaceuticals LLCannounced that the company has licensed a third treatment for Dry Eye Syndrome (DES) now designated ARG103. This is a continuance of arGentis’ licensing partnership with the Southern College of Optometry (SCO) and ARG103 becomes the third prospective therapy for DES that utilizes the transdermal delivery of an active pharmaceutical ingredient to affected glands via application of a cream or gel to the outer, upper and lower eyelids. ARG103 will broaden the reach of arGentis’ transdermal ocular technology, which includes ARG101 for use in menopausal women and ARG102, a progesterone-based formulation that treats DES in younger women and men.

SynergEyes Inc. has recently launched a revolutionary hybrid contact lens designed for people who need further vision correction after undergoing refractive vision surgery, such as LASIK. SynergEyes(R) PS (post-surgical) is also designed for patients who have experienced some type of corneal trauma or suffer from certain degenerative vision conditions. Approved for marketing by the FDA, SynergEyes PS hybrid contact lenses bond a “hard” and “soft” contact lens together resulting in a one-of-a-kind vision correction option that provides crisp, clear vision for surgically altered corneas in a comfortable, healthy contact lens.

pSivida Limited has announced that the FAME™ (Fluocinolone Acetonide in Diabetic Macular Edema) Study can continue under the current protocol. The trial is studying the use of Medidur FA in diabetic macular edema (DME). The FAME™ study is being conducted on 956 patients in the U.S., Canada, Europe and India and it consists of two, duplicate, double-masked, randomized and multi-center trials.

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Researchers have found that cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) pressure was a third lower in patients with primary open-angle glaucoma than in those who did not have the condition. The group of researchers led by John Berdahl also found in a retrospective case-control study that intraocular pressure (IOP) was similar between patients with glaucoma and those with other vision defects. The research published in the May issue of Ophthalmology suggests that the pressure difference between the intraocular space and the CSF space, the so-called translaminar pressure difference, may play a role in the pathogenesis of glaucoma.

A new study shows that soft contact lens wear does not accelerate the development of nearsightedness in children. Findings from the largest randomized three-year study, which tracked the myopic progression of 484 children ages 8-11 randomly assigned to wear glasses or contact lenses, indicated that there was no clinically meaningful difference between the two forms of vision correction for the treatment of nearsightedness, a vision problem experienced by approximately one-third of the population. The new research further dispels a long held myth that soft contact lenses increase myopia progression more than other vision correction options.

Carl Zeiss Meditec has announced that two new optical coherence tomography (OCT) applications, Cirrus™ HD-OCT and Stratus™ OCT, will be made available at the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons meeting in Chicago for the first time. These are among the most advanced imaging technologies available for assessment and management of glaucoma and diseases of the retina.

The U.S. attorney’s office in Buffalo has issued a subpoena to the Ista Pharmaceuticals Inc. requesting it to produce documents regarding an anti-inflammatory drug. The drug in question is Xibrom, used in treatment of inflammatory infections of the eye after cataract surgery. The company has said in a statement that it will be cooperating with the request, though it did not specify the reason for such a request.