The Arched Entrance of Stanford University in California, USA
From a newly released digital platform for ordering contact lenses to California ROP trends, these are the news stories and studies that caught our attention this week…
Opal launch. Bausch + Lomb has released its new digital e-commerce marketplace, Opal, in the US. The platform aims to provide a more convenient and faster way of ordering the company’s contact lenses. Link
Oculomics and cardiovascular disease. An international consortium of researchers has investigated how artificial intelligence (AI) and “oculomics” – the study of ophthalmic biomarkers to detect systemic disease – might be used in conjunction to assess cardiovascular risk factors using retinal scanning. Link
Monkey see… Scientists from the RIKEN Center for Biosystems Dynamics Research and Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Japan, have used human stem cell transplants to successfully repair macular holes in the Japanese Macaque primate. This is the first time an embryonic stem-derived retinal organoid sheet has been transplanted into a non-human primate model. The technique could potentially be used as a future treatment option for surgically difficult macular hole patients, the authors say. Link
West Coast ROP trends. Examining trends in retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) among preterm infants in California, a team from Stanford University and the University of California have highlighted improvements in ROP care across the state, as well as reduced incidence rates in Asian and Hispanic populations, helping to narrow disparities in the region. The authors suggest their findings could help improve ROP care across the country. Link
NHPs for glaucoma research. Researchers from Capital Medical University, Beijing, and Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China, aimed to establish normative data for retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness and lamina cribrosa (LC) parameters in a healthy non-glaucoma colony of cynomolgus monkeys. Using OCT, the study examined 349 non-glaucomatous monkeys, revealing that RNFL thickness in monkeys was thinner than in the human OCT database. The findings highlight the importance of considering species-specific characteristics (and differences) in glaucoma research and underscore the need to establish an RNFL database in experimental animals for more accurate ophthalmic studies, according to the researchers. Link
GCC accuracy for LHON. A recent IOVS study conducted by researchers from the Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden, has explored the correlation between macular ganglion cell complex (GCC) thickness and visual function in patients with chronic Leber hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON). Taking data from 26 individuals from the Swedish LHON registry, the study found that automated optical coherence tomography (OCT) segmentation can often overestimate GCC thickness, potentially leading to inaccurate disease monitoring for these patients, as well as difficulties in evaluating treatment effects. Link
