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International News
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Thursday, 24 March 2011 |
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 The American Optometric Association (AOA) and its 36,000 members recently announced its partnership with the 3D@Home Consortium, a group of more than 45 companies, to improve the understanding of 3D/S3D viewing as a safe and appropriate technology for all viewing audiences. The parties signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) today, stating their intent to share data and jointly promote vision health utilizing stereoscopic 3D displays.
The cooperative relationship will be a conduit for the exchange of the most current information and research. Both the AOA and the 3D@Home Consortium acknowledge vision and eye health may enhance consumers’ abilities to view 3D/S3D images, and ultimately increase their use of such technology. The two groups will collaborate in the development of common interest strategies, exchange of ideas, and shared best practices.
Potential projects covered by the MOU include: 1) enhanced public and professional communication; 2) development and design of 3D/S3D based vision risk assessment tools; 3) development and design of applied therapies; 4) providing new integrated efforts for quality improvement and evaluation; and 5) improved public health and vision and eye health.
Both groups will be encouraging their constituents to incorporate the use of stereoscopic testing and educational materials in their products, helping the public build an appreciation for the importance of optometry-delivered vision and eye health care, as well as the importance of yearly comprehensive eye exams. For more information, visit www.3Deyehealth.org
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International News
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Tuesday, 22 March 2011 |
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 Dow Corning, a global leader in silicon-based technology, and the Centre for Vision in the Developing World (CVDW) are jointly announcing a collaboration to create an innovative new way to help correct the vision of children in the developing world. Dow Corning has committed US $3 million of funding and materials expertise to the CVDW as part of this collaboration to launch an initiative called Child ViSion™.
The Child ViSion™ initiative will design, manufacture and distribute a child-specific version of self-adjustable eyeglasses to children in the developing world. The aim is to increase the effectiveness of classroom-based education by improving children’s ability to see the blackboard from which they are being taught.
“There are 100 million children or more in the developing world who need glasses to benefit fully from their education in the classroom. This problem arises principally because there are too few eye care professionals in the developing world,” said Prof. Josh Silver, Oxford University physicist, founder and director of the CVDW, and inventor of the world’s first universal fluid-filled adjustable eyeglasses. “Through this collaboration with Dow Corning, CVDW can now expand our efforts to provide eyeglasses to the children who need them for their education.”
The goal of the CVDW, a United Kingdom-based Community Interest Company, is to improve vision for people in the developing world who lack access to adequate vision correction.
“This collaboration between Dow Corning and the Centre for Vision in the Developing World will combine our expertise to help bring improved vision correction to children in desperate need,” said Stephanie A. Burns, Chairman and CEO of Dow Corning.
Through Child ViSion™, Dow Corning will work with the CVDW to explore how self-adjustable eyeglasses can be designed specifically for the needs of children so that the glasses are able to withstand daily use, are light weight and look more appealing, which will increase the likelihood that they will be worn. Another key element of the initiative will be to ensure the design can be scaled up to mass-production levels, which includes lowering the cost of production.
“Dow Corning fluids played a critical role in Prof. Silver’s pioneering self-adjustable glasses, which have already provided vision correction to approximately 40,000 people in more than 20 countries,” said James Stephenson, Dow Corning global Healthcare marketing manager and leader of the Child ViSion™ initiative at Dow Corning. “We are excited to further our relationship with the CVDW and to see how our silicon-based technologies can now improve vision correction and the quality of life for children in the developing world.”
To learn more about Child ViSion™, visit dowcorning.com/childvision.
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International News
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Monday, 21 March 2011 |
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 Following an award-winning preview at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, PixelOptics announced the formal introduction of emPower!, the world's first electronically-focusing prescription eyewear, at Vision Expo East in New York.
Beginning in May 2011, in a partnership with Aspex Eyewear and Panasonic Healthcare Co., LTD, the emPower! eyeglasses will be available in the Southeastern U.S., and then will be rolled out across the country by the end of 2011. Panasonic will manufacture the electronic lens blanks, leveraging the company's expertise and heritage in LCD technology. The electronic frames, produced by Aspex Eyewear, will be available in a fashion collection of 12 styles, including multiple color options. The consumer will have 36 different electronic frames to choose from.
emPower! represents the most significant technological advance in prescription eyewear in the last 50 years. The world's first electronic corrective eyeglasses, emPower! features the most advanced consumer electronics innovations available today, including composite lenses with a thin transparent liquid crystal layer, microchips, micro-machine accelerometers and miniature rechargeable batteries.
emPower! eyeglasses have the same weight, feel and look of regular, high-fashion eyewear. The microchip, micro-accelerometers, and miniature batteries are hidden inside the temples of the eyeglass frames. The transparent liquid crystal layer in each lens is able to electronically change and activate the near focus lens only when needed with no moving parts and without making a sound. emPower! allows for seeing clearly at all distances; far, near and in between. Wearers can operate the glasses in three different modes: manual on, automatic and manual off. emPower! is shock resistant and waterproof. One charge of the battery allows for two to three days of operation.
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International News
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Wednesday, 16 March 2011 |
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 After more than 20 years of research and development involving a team of international specialists, Second Sight Medical Products, Inc., the leading developer of retinal prostheses for the blind, is pleased to announce that its Argus II Retinal Prosthesis System (“Argus II”) is now approved for sale in the European Economic Area (EEA). After a successful clinical trial involving more than 30 blind patients around the world, and a very thorough review of the product’s safety and performance by an independent expert body, this device becomes the first approved treatment ever available for sightless people.
“After years of research, we are very happy to be able to offer a viable long-term solution for people suffering from advanced retinal degenerative diseases such as retinitis pigmentosa (RP),” said Robert Greenberg, MD, President and CEO of Second Sight. “The CE Mark approval, which comes after intense regulatory review of our trial and our device, represents a huge step forward for the field and for these patients who have, until now, had no proven treatment alternatives.”
Argus II is Second Sight’s second generation implantable device intended to treat profoundly blind people suffering from degenerative diseases such as RP. The system works by converting video images captured from a miniature camera, housed in the patient’s glasses, into a series of small electrical pulses that are transmitted wirelessly to an array of electrodes on the retina. These pulses then stimulate the retina’s remaining cells resulting in the corresponding perception of patterns of light in the brain. Patients learn to interpret these visual patterns thereby gaining some functional vision. Thirty patients participated in the clinical trial, using the device at home and in their daily lives since the trial started.
Although the resulting vision is far from normal, investigators in the clinical trial of the Argus II are excited by the results. “After more than 3 years of clinical trials, we were happy to demonstrate the performance, safety and long-term reliability of Argus II,” explained Professor José-Alain Sahel, Chairman, Department of Ophthalmology: Centre Hospitalier National d'Ophtalmologie des Quinze-Vingts, Paris, France. Adds Dr. Lyndon da Cruz, MD PhD Consultant Retinal Surgeon at Moorfields Eye Hospital in London, UK “ The fact that nearly all patients had a stable, safe and functioning system and that a majority of patients could recognize large letters, locate the position of objects and the best could read short words impressed us beyond our most optimistic expectations"
With this CE Mark approval, the Argus II is planned to be available later this year in the following clinical centers: Centre Hospitalier National d’Ophthalmologie des Quinze-Vingts (Paris, France), Hôpitaux Universitaires de Genève (Geneva, Switzerland), Manchester Royal Eye Hospital (Manchester, UK), and Moorfields Eye Hospital, (London, UK). Second Sight is actively adding sites to make the therapy more readily available across the EEA in the coming months and years. The company is also focused on obtaining insurance coverage for the device and surgical procedure.
“This ‘artificial retina’ brings hope to thousands of people with advanced retinal diseases” added David Head, Chief Executive of the British Retinitis Pigmentosa Society. “The restoration of an element of vision may bring with it the restoration of independence and mobility that would greatly improve a patient’s quality of life.”
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International News
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Thursday, 10 March 2011 |
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 The organizers of this year's 41st edition of Mido report "very successful" exhibition with the 6 pavilions that hosted 1,100 exhibitors and over 42,000 visitors, up 3% from 2010 .
Local Italian opticians were more numerous than the previous year (+7%). The number of foreign visitors has meanwhile been stable compared to previous years. According to Cirillo Marcolin, executive vice president of the salon, Mido Fashion District was a resounding success, and unsurprisingly, the Mido Design Lab, which brings together designers, drew opticians in search of avant-garde products.
The organizers also welcomed the attention given by the international media to the event: many foreign media companies made the trip to Milan. "This result can be attributed to changes in the global economy and is showing signs of recovery, but also our efforts to improve exposure, in tune with the needs of visitors," said Cirillo Marcolin, who announced "already working on the 42nd (the date of the next Mido has not been confirmed yet).
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International News
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Wednesday, 23 February 2011 |
Mido, the international eyewear trade show in Milan - Italy, will open its doors next week. Major eyewear vendors have already confirmed their return to the show, among them Safilo, Luxottica, De Rigo, and Marcolin.
At the Mido 2010 show, in an atmosphere of financial restraint, Safilo and Luxottica only booked stands for selected house eyewear brands which included Carrera and Smith Optics for Safilo and Persol for Luxottica.
This year, Safilo will again be taking part on a corporate level with a completely renovated and high impact stand dedicated to all of the Group’s collections.
Mido 2011 brings back the Mido Design Lab, an area featuring the most avantgarde manufacturers in terms of experimentation and design, and each year offers new approaches to the world of eyewear. It also marks the inauguration of a new exhibit area called Mido Fashion District, a space occupied by the leading companies in the world of eyewear. In essence, it’s a plaza where the storefront of each of these high profile manufacturers ‘looks out’ upon the central forum. This area is staged under the creative eye of architect and scenographer Francesco Pagliariccio, also a well-known designer, who uses a circular form, evocative of eyeglasses and lenses, as the leitmotif for the entire layout, waiting to be discovered.
The concept of “agora” (Gr: place of assembly) reappears in the Lens and Machinery Pavilion, with an area dedicated to Health and Innovation, where the latest technical innovations in the areas of vision health and prevention will be presented. Design, fashion, technology and training -- Mido 2011 also offers moments of in-depth learning with a series of meetings on currently relevant industry topics. Once again, for this year’s event, the anti-counterfeiting service, first offered by Mido, will be in place inside the fair grounds.
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