Source: facebook .com

The final winner of the the 2012 SECO Registration giveaway is Patrick Fahey from North Carolina! Congratulations! Please contact SECO by emailing This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. !

http://on.fb.me/yLBgkS

Source: http://visionhelp.wordpress .com

Take a good look at Larry Fitzgerald, the superlative wide received for the Arizona Cardinals. His eyes aren’t on the ball as he catches it; they’re well above and beyond the ball.

http://bit.ly/xZ9NmL

Source: readwriteweb .com

From a technological perspective, near field communications (NFC) is one of the most powerful and prominent innovations to come about in the last several years. But from a functional, real world standpoint, NFC is a technology without a clear-cut purpose. What problems does it actually solve? When it comes payments, how much different is a tap with your smartphone than a swipe of your debit card? What about the ability to open doors or share content with your friends? There are solutions already available on mobile devices for many of these "problems." So, what is the real future for NFC?

http://rww.to/yXyxeR

Source: modernmedicine .com

Ophthalmology Times welcomes attendees of this weekend’s Glaucoma 360 for a “full-compass view” of the cure, catalysts, and care of glaucoma, Feb. 2 to 4.

http://bit.ly/xOdaWg

Source: gizmodo .com

By creating these lights with the exact same form factor as a fluorescent bulb, NetLED has made it incredibly easy to upgrade the lighting in a store or office to its LED tubes, which can also be remotely controlled over Wi-Fi.

http://gizmo.do/wANlJV

Source: osnsupersite .com

A single pass and a double pass of a femtosecond laser in LASIK flap creation yielded similar postoperative visual and refractive outcomes, a study found.

http://bit.ly/yoTcvT

Source: imedicalapps .com

Those of us lucky enough to own an iPad know how useful they can be in day-to-day life – we use them for electronic medical records, keeping track of literature, organizing notes, scheduling appointments, paying bills…playing Angry Birds.

http://bit.ly/zjdJ7g

Source: thedryeyereview .com

A recent “Industry News” article in the AOA News caught my attention and continues to intrigue me. The article reports several very interesting facts indicating unmet dry eye need including: 1) Nearly half of all U.S. adults (48%) experience one or more dry eye symptom(s) regularly; 2) 19% of women age 55 and older have experienced dry eye symptoms for more than 10 years, 3) 69% who experience one or more dry eye symptom(s) have not visited a eye care professional to treat symptoms; and 4) of those who visited an eye care professional to treat their dry eye symptoms, 19% visited more than once before finding relief, and 22% reported that they still have not found relief.

http://bit.ly/zXrPSe

Source: osnsupersite .com

MicroPulse laser therapy may be superior to intravitreal bevacizumab injections in treating patients with central serous chorioretinopathy, according to a study.

http://bit.ly/xxm03a

Source: ubergizmo .com

One of the busiest train stations in Japan is located in Shinagawa, and that is where an interesting Minority Report style advertisement has generated quite a buzz. In this ad, the main character featured is part of a Suntory advertisement for black oolong tea, that advertises purported health benefits. What makes this particular character more compelling to look at (or creepy, depending on how you perceive the situation), would be that his eyes seem to follow each and every passerby.

http://bit.ly/zR76Ej

Source: medscape .com

Politicians looking to solve the Medicare reimbursement crisis heard some tantalizing numbers today from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO).

http://bit.ly/Aa8dV8

Source: gizmodo .com

In a series of new experiments, scientists have been able to use a computer to decipher brain activity. So what, huh? Well, the computer can reconstruct those signals into the actual words the participants are thinking about. It can read your mind.

http://gizmo.do/wtEIG8

Source: 2020mag .com

Self-administered, online refraction is a thorny subject, but that’s exactly why we’re tackling it this month in L&T. Although online refraction isn’t a reality yet, contributing editor Barry Santini points out in his thought-provoking cover story that various market forces are pushing us toward it, and the technology may soon be available to make it possible.

http://bit.ly/xxD3mL

Source: visionmonday .com

Mountaineers call it “dazzle” but most of us probably know it better as snow blindness. To combat the wrath of Mother Nature, glacier glasses, or alpine goggles as they are also known, usually feature round lenses in metal rims with leather side shields and were designed to protect against dangerous UV rays, wind and weather that might sneak in to a wearer’s periphery.

http://bit.ly/yUjQv1

Source: ubergizmo .com

In case you didn’t already know, the Kinect can be used as more than just a gaming device – the possibilities of what it can be used for is near limitless. Well, the folks over at the Technical University of Munich have decided to use it for educational purposes in a project called “mirracle”. Using the Kinect as some sort of “magic mirror”, they created an augmented reality app that lets people see what the insides of their bodies look like – as opposed to just seeing a reflection of themselves in the Kinect “mirror”. A pretty cool idea that could help the curious people who want to know what makes their body tick. Check out the video demonstration above.

http://bit.ly/xs1K98

Source: ubergizmo .com

Nabes LLC has been issued a US design patent for its unique video eyewear system that transforms sunglasses into stealth video eyewear. All users need to do is attach the Nabes video eyewear system into compatible glasses, hook it up to their mobile devices like the iPod touch or iPhone, and just enjoy the theater-like entertainment experience with nothing but glasses on. The system is said to weigh only 2 ounces, have WVGA resolution with iOS compsite video, HDMI and USB interfaces on a rechargeable control box with 4-hours of run time, and stereo in-ear earphones.

http://bit.ly/Ad7BgP

Source: modernmedicine .com

The first issue of the Asia-Pacific Journal of Ophthalmology (APJO), the official publication of the Asia-Pacific Academy of Ophthalmology (APAO), was formally released online Jan. 23, a date coinciding with the Chinese New Year.

http://bit.ly/wRmKjM

Source: osnsupersite .com

Punctal plugs offer an alternative to topical lubrication in treating dry eye syndrome in children, a study found.

http://bit.ly/wfJzcf

Source: imedicalapps .com

One of the criticisms we often hear about mHealth in general is a general absence of data that validates the emerging devices and systems that are being pitched as transformative.

http://bit.ly/AegwKC

Source: givingsight .org

For the first time in history, East Timor now has an association for all eye-care workers.

Optometry Giving Sight funds the optometric input into the East Timor Eye Program through the support of ProVision Optometry Teams, who provide primary eye care services and training for local staff. However, until recently, there has been no collective body for the local eye-care workers.

http://bit.ly/wTppZX

Source: hypebeast .com

AOC1961 offers a series of reinterpreted spectacles based on the brand’s archival designs, branded “Wilson.” The exclusive range is named after Wilson Chen, an optometrist and innovator pioneered Hong Kong’s optical industry. The eyeglasses feature a slimmer profile that is tailor-made appeal in a range of chromatic frames in black and tortoise. Availability is offered through the AOC store in Hong Kong.

http://bit.ly/An2umz

Source: thedryeyereview .com

How many times have we as clinicians initially presumed “a default diagnosis” of Dry Eye Disease just based on symptoms? Dr. Bill Townsend discusses Conjunctivochalasis which is an example of “other causes” we must remember when patients are having symptoms of Dry Eye Disease.

http://bit.ly/w6a17G

Source: modernmedicine .com

Bausch + Lomb (B + L) Japan and Topcon Medical Japan have announced a collaboration to co-promote their ophthalmic surgical products in Japan, including introduction of a proprietary microsurgery platform (Stellaris PC Vision Enhancement System).

http://bit.ly/xxrc1s

Source: prweb .com

Sharon Kleyne, host of the Sharon Kleyne Hour Power of Water syndicated radio talk show, interviewed Laurie Barber, MD, Professor of Ophthalmology at the University of Arkansas and an authority on dry eye syndrome. Sharon Kleyne and Dr. Barber discussed the Schirmer Test for dry eye diagnosis, the correct use of eye drop, eye drop allergies, eye misting, eyelid skin, and the importance of drinking eight glasses of water a day. The interview may be heard on-demand on World Talk Radio, Voice America, Green Talk Network and Apple iTunes.

http://bit.ly/xFd1St

Source: imedicalapps .com

For Apple fans, MacPractice has been a popular practice management and clinical electronic medical record software for Apple computers. They often partner with Apple for workshops geared towards medical professionals — as one of our physician editors witnessed while at his local Apple Store.

http://bit.ly/zfQutd

Source: kevinmd .com

A great deal of effort in the current health care environment is being put into improving communication – between patients and families and members of the health care team, among family members, and among members of the team. The case can be made that good communication is at the heart of patient safety, cultural sensitivity, and the pillar of palliative care — aligning patient’s wishes and goals with treatment plans.

http://bit.ly/zxca7x

Source: patch .com

A noted eye surgeon at Loma Linda University Medical Center is creating a stir on the World Wide Web, where his videos teaching innovative techniques in surgery have been viewed by medical students, residents and practicing surgeons more than 72,000 times.

http://bit.ly/wUPLrn

Source: visionmonday .com

The American Optometric Association (AOA) has dedicated the Major Charles Robert Soltes, Jr., OD Department of Veterans’ Affairs (VA) Blind Rehabilitation Facility on the campus of the VA Long Beach Healthcare System. Named for U.S. Army Major Charles R. (Rob) Soltes, Jr., OD, the first Army optometry officer to be killed in action while on active duty, the new blind rehabilitation facility for America’s blinded veterans serves as an important step toward AOA’s mission of enhanced access to essential optometric services and improved quality of care for all veterans, particularly those with low vision.

http://bit.ly/xOmhxM

Source: visionmonday .com

The 2012 Edition of the Blue Book of Optometrists, a comprehensive directory listing over 30,000 optometrists, is now available from Jobson Medical Information LLC. The directory is indexed into four distinct categories including, name, state, specialty and educational institution. In addition, the new directory has been updated with more than 12,000 changes.

http://bit.ly/wHxUrN

Source: visionmonday .com

Even the U.S. military has come to recognize the fashionable aspects of eyewear. Since 1990, military personnel and recruits who required vision correction have received the standard issue S9 eyeglass frames, often jokingly referred to as "birth control glasses” (at left). But all that‘s about to change. Navy Medical Logistics Command (NMLC) announced that all active duty and Reserve personnel, including recruits, will soon have a new standard issue eyeglass frame available to them. Find out why the military has done an “about face” in Forget Birth Control Glasses; the U.S. Military Just Got ‘Spex’ier.

http://bit.ly/yHSuy5

Source: childrenshospitalblog .org

Q: I have an son who’s 11 and a daughter who’s 9½, and for many years, they have sat close to the TV when watching. I have asked them to sit farther away, and they do move back maybe a foot…but they always go back to viewing the show close up, even if the screen is a 40” color flat screen. Any studies that show why? Any concerns? My wife and I sit 8 to 10 feet from the TV.
-Up Close and Personal, in Rochester Hills, MI

http://bit.ly/ydxTKY

Source: visionmonday .com

Today at The Vision Council’s 2012 Executive Summit here, it was announced that the Optical Laboratories Association (OLA) has officially become the Optical Lab Division of The Vision Council.

http://bit.ly/wMhVIe

Source: osnsupersite .com

Progressive tilting of the optic nerve head showed a strong association with development and enlargement of parapapillary atrophy in children with a myopic shift, a study found.

http://bit.ly/wUr4cn

Source: newsfromaoa .org

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. last month announced the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had approved Eylea (aflibercept) injection for the treatment of patients with neovascular (wet) age-related macular degeneration (AMD) at a recommended dose of 2 milligrams every four weeks (or monthly) for the first 12 weeks, followed by 2 milligrams every eight weeks (two months).

http://bit.ly/wXCiJc

Source: newsfromaoa .org

Freedom Scientific has upgraded its Sara™ and Sara CE Scanning and Reading Appliances to improve speed and accuracy.

http://bit.ly/A9dXBq

Source: engadget .com

Digging your 3D TVs, video game consoles and laptops? Thank the past -- the New York Public Library is here to remind you that streographic entertainment has been blowing minds for over 100 years, and has the animated gifs to prove it.

http://engt.co/ytZ7yi

Source: kevinmd .com

I love listening to life stories. As a hospice chaplain, I loved sitting with our patients and their loved ones engaging in what many hospice teams call “life review.” When did you meet your spouse? When was Reggie born? What is your favorite holiday? When did you learn you were ill? A few simple questions and the stories come pouring forth.

http://bit.ly/xEdRD4

Source: visionhelp.wordpress .com

I’ve blogged before about what a fan I am of the Well-Trained Minds Forum, and the even-handed discussions of vision and vision therapy there. The latest discussion there on the subject contains a nice contribution by Rod Everson, with a link to his website, OnTrack Reading. I enjoyed reading much of what Rod Everson has to write. He pretty much nails every topic we’ve addressed on our blog related to vision and reading right on the head, and he pulls no punches.

http://bit.ly/xl699k

Source: kevinmd .com

How many times as a doctor do you ask the same questions over and over again as part of the routine process of taking a history from your patient? And how often as a patient do you have to answer those same questions each time you see a new doctor? How long does this take, given that doctors and patients both complain that there is too little time for the modern consultation to cover all the bases to the satisfaction of both parties?

http://bit.ly/AlddwO

Source: readwriteweb .com

Flowtown releases a great social media cheat sheet for those new to social media. Dan Frommer wonders if downloads or discs are more applicable for the next gen XBox. All of this and more in the ReadWriteWeb Weekly Wrap-up.

http://rww.to/xizC8l

Source: visionhelp.wordpress .com

If you happen to read my personal blog, you know I love baseball and in particular spring training. Though I was born and raised in Philadelphia, and have a lifelong attachment to the Phillies, our daughter and son-in-law reside in Cincinnati with their three girls so I’ve developed a secondary interest in following their team. An article in PLoS One caught my eye not only because of the title
High-Performance Vision Training Improves Batting Statistics for University of Cincinnati Baseball Players

http://bit.ly/yyO2A5

Source: kevinmd .com

It was 1976 and I was a junior resident in urology at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas. I was assigned to a rotation in pathology where my job was to process specimens taken at surgery, dictate a gross description of the specimen and then place the specimens into the cassettes that would be used to make the permanent sections.

http://bit.ly/yTXFwe

Source: osnsupersite .com

The slow path to approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration that new products face is threatening to push the market, which is already two generations behind in some technologies, even further back, a speaker said here.

http://bit.ly/zCNSez

Source: osnsupersite .com

With the evolution of biomicroscopy and the ability of the optical coherence tomography platform to consistently and efficiently store, measure and compare useful images, retina specialists should begin considering shifting away from the slit lamp to OCT biomicroscopy, a speaker here said.

http://bit.ly/xMZExo

Source: nature .com

Purpose
To analyze whether an association exists between keratometric and pachymetric changes in the cornea, and whether it can be used to create pachymetric cutoff criteria secondary to keratometric criteria.

http://bit.ly/ywYI9F

Source: opticianonline .net

3-D optical coherence tomography may be more sensitive than non-mydriatic colour fundus imaging for detecting retinal abnormalities.

In a presentation at last week's Hawaiian Eye 2012 conference in Maui, Dr Andrew Walsh of Envision Diagnostics claimed that 'an ideal retinal screening system would efficiently screen out those not needing full exams, would be accurate enough to detect minor abnormalities and would be non-invasive for asymptomatic patients'.

http://bit.ly/waeEuL

Source: wiley .com

Purpose:  This study considered whether vergence drives accommodation or accommodation drives vergence during the control of distance exotropia for near fixation. High accommodative convergence to accommodation (AC/A) ratios are often used to explain this control, but the role of convergence to drive accommodation (the CA/C relationship) is rarely considered. Atypical CA/C characteristics could equally, or better, explain common clinical findings.

http://bit.ly/wSkBh3

Source: medscape .com

Before treatment, the 51-year-old graphic artist was legally blind, unable to read a single letter on a standard eye chart. She has suffered from Stargardt's disease, the most common form of macular degeneration in young patients, since she was a teenager, and it was getting progressively worse.

http://bit.ly/yXnwqS

Source: medscape .com

Our group at Wills Eye Institute retrospectively reviewed the charts of all patients with a diagnosis of herpes zoster ophthalmicus (HZO) who were seen in 2008. Whereas some of these patients were seen for the first time that year, others were being followed after receiving treatment years before. The patients were divided into 2 groups, patients younger or older than 60 years of age at the time of the initial episode of HZO. Several parameters were compared.

http://bit.ly/yDNU8S

Source: wiley .com

Purpose:  To assess visual performance and ocular aberrations in keratoconic patients using toric soft contact lenses (SCL), rigid-gas-permeable (RGP) contact lenses and spectacle lens correction.

http://bit.ly/wQBkmk