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Archive for the ‘Eye Sight & Vision’ Category

Resident talks to students about his life without sight | News, Sports, Jobs – Williamsport Sun-Gazette

Wednesday, December 25th, 2019

HUGHESVILLE Kelley Sprout, who is legally blind, came close to being struck by a vehicle recently while trying to cross at Main and Walnut streets here.

Sprout, 50, spoke Thursday to ninth-through-12th grade students who were enrolled in an innovation center class at Hughesville Junior-Senior High School, his alma mater.

He spoke candidly about the ordeal and offered tips and suggestions so they could get to know what visually-impaired and blind individuals go through in life.

So, here comes the ambulance, he said, of the accident, which took place about two weeks ago.

They thought I was injured, but I was looking for my cane tip, he said. I just got that.

Grateful for the quick response from borough police and the ambulance personnel, Sprout said he was not certain if the woman driving the vehicle had veered into his path, but the tire on the car came into contact with his cane tip and it broke.

I must listen for traffic, he said.

Sometimes, he noted, other pedestrians will tell him when to cross, but the borough isnt too populated with people out walking.

I would like to have audible signals, he said, adding he understood that might be too cost prohibitive and told borough council about his request. The street is one managed by the state Department of Transportation (PennDOT).

Sprouts challenge to walk across a street doesnt end with vehicles going one way or the other. He has no ability to see a vehicles turn signal.

Heightening his concern are those who honk or yell for him to watch out for that tree, including other insults.

Instead, Sprout encouraged the students to take a look at the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and to read the law.

While at Hughesville High School, his fondest memories are of former school teacher Fred Springman, a special education teacher, and of joining the band and playing instruments, first under the guidance of band director Michael Hutton and then with Samuel Arnone.

Arnone, he said, was supportive and told him he could pick up a piece of music and learn to play a clarinet or other instrument by feel.

Devices for the blind also help to add to Sprouts day.

He showed the students his digital talking book player with several buttons on it.

He demonstrated its navigation menu, which included but was not limited to, sound up and down, tone and speed, and other nifty helper buttons.

The other tools he brought included a calculator that spoke back to him and a hand-held device that could inform him of the color of his shirt.

He put it up to his shirt and the voice indicated it was blue.

Sprouts positive attitude was inspiring to the students who listened.

I want people to know I am here, he said.

Sprout said he was not always blind.

For much of his youth he had scant vision in both eyes, about 5 percent in each eye, or enough to ride a bicycle.

But retinal degeneration worsened over time.

He initially was sent to the Overbrook School for the Blind in a section of Philadelphia, before attending school in the East Lycoming School District. He was the 1988 senior of the year in his graduating class.

He worked in various factories and for a while with the North Central Sight Services. His hobbies include being an amateur radio operator.

Before leaving, Sprout played what sounded like the schools alma mater. His arms rose up as a conductors would.

I want to speak to others about blindness educate them, he said.

The year 2019 had its moments. Today the Sun-Gazette continues a daily offering of news highlights from the year. ...

City Council has scheduled a meeting at 11:30 a.m. Friday to consider the 2020 budget veto by Mayor Gabriel J. ...

The year 2019 had its moments. Today the Sun-Gazette continues a daily offering of news highlights from the year. ...

(EDITORS NOTE: Today the Sun-Gazette continues its annual review of the past years major news ...

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Perfect vision sadly a sight for sore eyes – The Canberra Times

Saturday, December 21st, 2019

news, latest-news,

"Do you know what I've just seen?" I excitedly gasped and gibbered, running up to a group of six complete strangers in the sculpture garden of Canberra's Australian National Gallery. It was early one morning last October and I had just seen Jesus, Our Redeemer, striding confidently across the surface of the waters of nearby Lake Burley Griffin, just as in the Bible he walks on the waters of Galilee, amazing his disciples. The strangers seemed inexplicably unmoved. Strangely still and slow-moving I took them to be a group of Tai-Chi practitioners unprepared to let anything interrupt their oriental ritual. "What's WRONG with you people?" I raged at them. "I bring you thrilling news about Jesus' second coming and you just stand there like crash test dummies!" Exasperated I ran up to one of the strangers and shirtfronted him. The lapels of his shirt had a strangely metallic feel. "Excuse me grandad," a sculpture garden security guard intervened, "please don't touch the sculptures." And it emerged that the group of strangers were not Tai-Chi enthusiasts but Rodin's famous bronze Burghers of Calais. My imperfect eyes, awaiting the corrections of cataract surgery had played yet another trick on me. Suspicious now about my earlier vision I went back to the lake shore to check on my Jesus. It turned out that he, far closer to me now and more easily discerned, was in fact just a bearded mortal man. He was not walking on water but only shuffling across the waters standing upright on a hired paddle board. "I'm glad my cataract surgery is happening soon," I confided to an indistinct woman I was fairly sure was my wife after I arrived home from my morning's embarrassing adventures. I've since had cataract surgery, splendidly restoring hawk-eyed accuracy to my vision. It is something to be grateful for and to rejoice over. And yet. Between rejoicings I find myself half-missing some of the delusions, mirages and hallucinations that wonky vision gave me. I'm reminded of James Thurber's amusing memoir The Admiral on the Wheel in which Thurber (already with wonky vision) tells of adventures he suffered/enjoyed after breaking his glasses and having a long wait for new ones. Waiting for his glasses he saw, or seemed to see, wondrous things. "I saw the Cuban flag flying over a national bank, I saw a gay old lady with a grey parasol walk right through the side of a truck, I saw a cat roll across a street in a small striped barrel, I saw bridges rise lazily into the air, like balloons." Thurber enjoyed seeing these sorts of things and came to realise: "With perfect vision, one is inextricably trapped in the workaday world, a prisoner of reality. For the hawk-eyed person life has none of those soft edges which for me blur into fantasy." I strongly identify with Thurber in all this, although overall I am very glad to have had my eyesight corrected since poor eyesight did cause me some embarrassments. There was the time when I put on the first undies I could find in the laundry basket, my wife's, and got very funny looks later that day in the men's locker room at my gym. Then there was that time at my local shops when, not seeing the shopfronts clearly, I went into the bakery, mistaking it for the chemist's and handed the woman behind the counter my doctor's prescription for a well-known medication pertaining to my sexual health. Now I am too embarrassed to go there again; a shame, since its lamingtons are the best in Australia. But so many of my visual mistakes, like dear Thurber's, had a magic about them that I miss now that surgery has put me back into prison with the hawk-eyed. I miss how at the Yarralumla off-leash dog park my dog always seemed to be playing not with mere dogs but with mythical creatures galore, including unicorns and hippogriffs. Once I threw a ball for a bunyip and it, now with a pixie riding on its back, brought it back to me. I miss, now, the flying things (like albatrosses, pterodactyls and airborne superheroes, like Batman) that used to come down to and gather around my garden's birdbath. An art buff, back in perfect eyesight's prison now I miss some of the things I seemed to see in the great paintings reproduced in my coffee-table books. Where, now, is the mystery object (depending on the state of the light in my study either an iPad, a souvenir snowdome of St Basil's Cathedral or a miniature Schnauzer dog) that always seemed to be there in the lap of Whistler's Mother? Today, hawk-eyed now, all I can find in her lap are the frilly cuffs (reminiscent of the frills on the undergarment I once blush-makingly wore to my gym) of her long-sleeved garment where it meets her folded hands. And, now that I see so pragmatically I can no longer find the lamingtons (perhaps bought from my shopping centre's noble bakery) that always seemed to be there on the table in Leonardo da Vinci's painting The Last Supper. Nor, in the same masterpiece, is Judas any longer holding in his right hand what I always believed before my surgery was either a lamington or a mobile phone. Disappointingly hawk-eyed now, I can see it is, predictably, just a bag of coins. Cataract surgery, so magical in every medical way, has taken everyday magic from my every day.

https://nnimgt-a.akamaihd.net/transform/v1/crop/frm/fdcx/doc76o44a3o4iw1eym1o6n6.jpg/r0_642_6000_4032_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg

OPINION

December 22 2019 - 4:30AM

"Do you know what I've just seen?" I excitedly gasped and gibbered, running up to a group of six complete strangers in the sculpture garden of Canberra's Australian National Gallery.

It was early one morning last October and I had just seen Jesus, Our Redeemer, striding confidently across the surface of the waters of nearby Lake Burley Griffin, just as in the Bible he walks on the waters of Galilee, amazing his disciples.

Unicorns at Yarralumla's off-leash dog park: where for art thou? Picture: Shutterstock

The strangers seemed inexplicably unmoved. Strangely still and slow-moving I took them to be a group of Tai-Chi practitioners unprepared to let anything interrupt their oriental ritual.

"What's WRONG with you people?" I raged at them.

"I bring you thrilling news about Jesus' second coming and you just stand there like crash test dummies!"

Exasperated I ran up to one of the strangers and shirtfronted him. The lapels of his shirt had a strangely metallic feel.

"Excuse me grandad," a sculpture garden security guard intervened, "please don't touch the sculptures."

And it emerged that the group of strangers were not Tai-Chi enthusiasts but Rodin's famous bronze Burghers of Calais. My imperfect eyes, awaiting the corrections of cataract surgery had played yet another trick on me.

Suspicious now about my earlier vision I went back to the lake shore to check on my Jesus. It turned out that he, far closer to me now and more easily discerned, was in fact just a bearded mortal man. He was not walking on water but only shuffling across the waters standing upright on a hired paddle board.

"I'm glad my cataract surgery is happening soon," I confided to an indistinct woman I was fairly sure was my wife after I arrived home from my morning's embarrassing adventures.

I've since had cataract surgery, splendidly restoring hawk-eyed accuracy to my vision. It is something to be grateful for and to rejoice over. And yet.

Between rejoicings I find myself half-missing some of the delusions, mirages and hallucinations that wonky vision gave me. I'm reminded of James Thurber's amusing memoir The Admiral on the Wheel in which Thurber (already with wonky vision) tells of adventures he suffered/enjoyed after breaking his glasses and having a long wait for new ones.

Waiting for his glasses he saw, or seemed to see, wondrous things.

"I saw the Cuban flag flying over a national bank, I saw a gay old lady with a grey parasol walk right through the side of a truck, I saw a cat roll across a street in a small striped barrel, I saw bridges rise lazily into the air, like balloons."

Thurber enjoyed seeing these sorts of things and came to realise: "With perfect vision, one is inextricably trapped in the workaday world, a prisoner of reality. For the hawk-eyed person life has none of those soft edges which for me blur into fantasy."

I strongly identify with Thurber in all this, although overall I am very glad to have had my eyesight corrected since poor eyesight did cause me some embarrassments.

There was the time when I put on the first undies I could find in the laundry basket, my wife's, and got very funny looks later that day in the men's locker room at my gym.

Then there was that time at my local shops when, not seeing the shopfronts clearly, I went into the bakery, mistaking it for the chemist's and handed the woman behind the counter my doctor's prescription for a well-known medication pertaining to my sexual health. Now I am too embarrassed to go there again; a shame, since its lamingtons are the best in Australia.

But so many of my visual mistakes, like dear Thurber's, had a magic about them that I miss now that surgery has put me back into prison with the hawk-eyed.

Between rejoicings [of successful cataract surgery] I find myself half-missing some of the delusions, mirages and hallucinations that wonky vision gave me.

I miss how at the Yarralumla off-leash dog park my dog always seemed to be playing not with mere dogs but with mythical creatures galore, including unicorns and hippogriffs. Once I threw a ball for a bunyip and it, now with a pixie riding on its back, brought it back to me.

I miss, now, the flying things (like albatrosses, pterodactyls and airborne superheroes, like Batman) that used to come down to and gather around my garden's birdbath.

An art buff, back in perfect eyesight's prison now I miss some of the things I seemed to see in the great paintings reproduced in my coffee-table books.

Where, now, is the mystery object (depending on the state of the light in my study either an iPad, a souvenir snowdome of St Basil's Cathedral or a miniature Schnauzer dog) that always seemed to be there in the lap of Whistler's Mother? Today, hawk-eyed now, all I can find in her lap are the frilly cuffs (reminiscent of the frills on the undergarment I once blush-makingly wore to my gym) of her long-sleeved garment where it meets her folded hands.

And, now that I see so pragmatically I can no longer find the lamingtons (perhaps bought from my shopping centre's noble bakery) that always seemed to be there on the table in Leonardo da Vinci's painting The Last Supper.

Nor, in the same masterpiece, is Judas any longer holding in his right hand what I always believed before my surgery was either a lamington or a mobile phone. Disappointingly hawk-eyed now, I can see it is, predictably, just a bag of coins.

Cataract surgery, so magical in every medical way, has taken everyday magic from my every day.

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Perfect vision sadly a sight for sore eyes - The Canberra Times

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In the age of smartphones, Japanese schoolchildren’s eyesight is worst on record, health ministry finds – The Japan Times

Saturday, December 21st, 2019

From elementary to high school, children in Japan are breaking records for bad eyesight, an education ministry health survey showed Friday.

According to the survey results, children with uncorrected vision of less than 1.0 on the Japanese acuity scale account for 34.6 percent of elementary school students, 57.5 percent of junior high school students and 67.6 percent of high school students all record highs.

A score of 1.0 is equivalent to 20/20 vision.

Looking at smartphone screens at close distances and reading books may be having some effects on childrens eyesight, the ministry said.

The preliminary figures came from samples collected from the results of medical checkups nationwide for children between 5 and 17 from April to June. A more detailed investigation covering several thousand students will be conducted for the first time in fiscal 2020.

The fiscal 2019 survey also found record high ratios of nasal or paranasal sinus conditions, such as allergic rhinitis, in 12.1 percent of junior high students and 9.9 percent of high school students.

The share of high schoolers with ear problems aside from hearing impairments also hit a record high at 2.9 percent.

On the other hand, the ratios for tooth decay continued to fall, setting record lows of 34 percent in junior high schoolers and 43.7 percent in high schoolers.

The downtrend is being credited to improved education on brushing teeth at school and greater awareness of parents about dental hygiene.

The survey also found that the proportion of 13-year-olds in Fukushima Prefecture weighing at least 20 percent more than standard stood at 12.29 percent, the highest by prefecture.

While obesity in children rose after the March 2011 nuclear disaster, which caused restrictions to be placed on outdoor activities as a result of contamination, It cannot be said that (the proportion in Fukushima) is markedly higher than in other prefectures, so there may not be any significant effect, the ministry said.

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In the age of smartphones, Japanese schoolchildren's eyesight is worst on record, health ministry finds - The Japan Times

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Supple’s eye-catching 2020 calendar inspired by famous spectacle wearers and your local opticians – Creative Boom

Saturday, December 21st, 2019

Andy Warhol. All images courtesy of Supple and totalcontent

This is certainly a sight for sore eyes: a printed wall calendar for 2020, inspired by famous spectacle wearers past and present, ranging from Gandhi to Ga Ga, Elton John to Audrey Hepburn.

Brought to you by design studio Supple and copywriting firm totalcontent, 2020 Visionaries focuses on familiar specs and the little-known stories behind them.

Supple went all ocular on the design, basing the creative on graphic illustrations of the iconic face furniture, judicious use of the Optician Sans font, and a take on the traditional opticians' Snellen vision test chart on the cover.

The glasses illustrations are reproduced true to size. The lenses reflect not only the identity of the wearer but what they might see through them. For example, January poster boy Michael Caine's lenses feature a couple of speeding Minis, a nod to his iconic British heist movie The Italian Job.

totalcontents Jim K Davies says: "I had the idea for a spectacles-based calendar a couple of years ago when I saw '2020' printed in a newspaper. The research was a real eye-opener. Most interesting find? Elton John doesn't need specs anymore, thanks to the lens implantsurgery he had in 2003. It was a shame not to include Dame Edna though. Her extravagant glasses dont have lenses, so, unfortunately, we couldnt use her."

Designer and illustrator Yee Poon adds: After Jim suggested a 2020 calendar of famous spec wearers, we explored loads of ways of featuring the glasses, before focusing on the idea of reflections. We decided to keep things pure and simple, taking our cues from eye-test cards for colour, typography and minimalism."

The 2020 Visionaries calendar is supported by a pop-up microsite by web design agency Our Name is Mud, along with a link for donations to Guide Dogs for the Blind, one of Supple's clients.

Creative Director Matt Powell said: "When we saw the calendar, we immediately thought it would lend itself to an online quiz and we could have some fun with opticians' iconography. The red and green screens lend themselves beautifully to right and wrong and using some clever mask effects, we could mimic the way test lenses work."

Michael Caine

Elton John

John Lennon

Amelia Earhart

Ray Charles

Billie Jean King

Lady Gaga

Audrey Hepburn

Gandhi

Karl Lagerfeld

The Two Ronnies

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Supple's eye-catching 2020 calendar inspired by famous spectacle wearers and your local opticians - Creative Boom

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Cleve In The Eve: Beautiful Lives Project teams up with Galva dance team for special event – Peoria Journal Star

Saturday, December 21st, 2019

PEORIA Bryce Weiler has a vision: Help people with disabilities connect with sports.

Weiler was born without eyesight, but he hasn't let that hamper his love for sports. He has worked as a broadcast color commentator for more than 140 games, one of which was a Peoria Chiefs game at Dozer Park in 2014.

He played catch on the field with then-Chiefs manager Joe Kruzel. He can hit a baseball. Shoot free throws. You name it, he's tried it.

And that's what he wants for everyone with a disability. To that end, the Baltimore Orioles disability consultant co-founded the Beautiful Lives Project after his college days.

Beautiful Lives helps sports organizations create participation chances for people with disabilities.

And one of those events happened Saturday during a basketball game at Galva High School.

The Galva dance team welcomed a handful of students with disabilities, led them through practice on Friday, and then danced with them at halftime on Saturday.

"We had three students, two from Geneseo and one from Kewanee, join us for this," Galva dance team coach Ali Weston said. "The goal for us was to be inclusive. I wanted our dancers to experience this, and work toward helping others achieve something they didn't think they could do.

"None of the three guests who joined us had a background in dance. They wanted to experience it and we were excited to help them."

Weston met Weiler when the two were students at Western Illinois University. She danced for WIU and Weiler became a friend.

"We found out we both had a love for sports," said Weston, 26. "The thing you have to know about Bryce is, any obstacle that comes into his path he embraces and overcomes."

The idea for the Galva dance event was formed over the summer.

"I just thought it was an amazing opportunity," Weston said. "It helps our dancers, too. They learn what it is like for someone who cant do all the things that they can do."

Said Galva junior dance team member Jacqueline Boyce:

"This is a good opportunity for our dance team to reach out to people who haven't had the experiences we've had."

Weiler earned a bachelor's degree in Sports Management and Communication from University of Evansville, and earned a master's in Sports Administration from Western Illinois.

He was born with the retinas in his eyes detached, so he's never had sight. But he certainly has vision.

"The Beautiful Lives Project is my chance to give back to all the people who have helped me out," said Weiler, 28. "Ali has been such a good friend, helped me so much at Western Illinois and is such a good person.

"She's passing along these experiences to her dance team now, and that's a great thing."

You can check out the Beautiful Lives Project at https://www.beautifullives.org/.

Dave Eminian covers the Rivermen and Chiefs for the Journal Star, and writes the Cleve In The Eve sports column for pjstar.com. Reach him at 686-3206 or deminian@pjstar.com. Follow him on Twitter @icetimecleve.

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Cleve In The Eve: Beautiful Lives Project teams up with Galva dance team for special event - Peoria Journal Star

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At the centre of eye health – AOP

Saturday, December 21st, 2019

Every New Year prompts new resolutions. 2020 still makes us think of perfect vision, even if we are metric now. So how do you wish this year to unfold for you and for your patients?

Where and how you practice will to some extent determine the patients you see, but most optometrists will see a cross-section of the population coming through the consulting room in the year. Patients will range from children to the very elderly, and those in the middle who are coming to terms with their changing sight needs with the passing years. Each patient presents their own challenges to optometrists, some greater than others.

It has never been more important for optometrists to be at the centre of eye health and care at every stage in a patients life, and to be recognised as such. Too many members of the public think of the optician as there for the healthy eye, and to detect disease. Not enough people understand the role that optometrists can play in supporting patients in the longer term after a diagnosis, whether with treatment, monitoring or expert prescribing and support for low vision. This view will only change as more and more people experience the full range of what optometrists can offer in primary care.

Not enough people understand the role that optometrists can play in supporting patients in the longer term after a diagnosis, whether with treatment, monitoring or expert prescribing and support for low vision

The commissioning landscape continues to change. There are more pathways and local schemes being set up all the time. Scotland and Wales continue to make the greatest strides that the other nations can learn from. The devolved governments fully understand that optometrists are the untapped resource to relieve pressure on GPs and secondary care. This is being recognised in England too, with its patchy commissioning landscape. The Local Optical Committee Support Unit works hard to increase the number of schemes and pathways, such as the introduction of a pathway for children following problems identified in screening last summer.

If the optometric practice supports patients from youth to old age, in good times and in bad, the AOP does the same for its members. We protect, support and represent our members throughout their careers. This personal and individual understanding of your career is our hallmark.

We recognise how your needs will change at different stages of your career, whatever your mode of practice. Our unrivalled insurance and member defence package is a given in the event of needing assistance with complaints from any source. We have your back.

But we also recognise that the support a locum needs will be different from a business owner, employee, lecturer, hospital optometrist or student, and we recognise the importance of offering the right support at every stage. This is why you can find advice on our website on employment status and tax, government regulation, employee contracts, making accurate claims and dealing with post-payment verification and anything else that might arise for you. It is why we provide CET opportunities for the whole practice team, as well as specialised opportunities for learning at the Hospital Optometrists Annual Conference and Therapeutics London Conference. And it is why the education opportunities we offer cover personal skills and attributes as well as clinical knowledge.

It has never been more important for optometrists to be at the centre of eye healthand to be recognised as such

We also acknowledge career changes in our fee structure, with special rates for newly qualified optometrists, and members taking parental leave or career breaks.

2020 is an auspicious year for all those involved in eye health and care, and we are determined to make it a particularly special one. It begins with an even bigger and better 100% Optical with more CET, more dedicated streams for the whole practice team, more AOP dedicated sessions and the biggest Awards event in the sector, to celebrate outstanding achievement. I look forward to seeing lots of you there and I hope 2020 proves to be one to remember, for all the right reasons.

AOP benefits for membersSee the benefits of being AOP member at different career stages

Image Credit: Getty/sorbetto

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Give the gift of sight by supporting local project – Northglen News

Saturday, December 21st, 2019

Cathryn Aylett and Carron Strachan from Bright Eyes Centre (BEC) for Visually Impaired Children show off the Plusoptix Vision Screener.

GLENHILLS resident, Cathryn Aylett has urged the north Durban community to give the gift of sight this festive season by sponsoring an eye screening. Aylett who works with the Bright Eyes Centre (BEC) for Visually Impaired Children is actively involved in fundraising for the non profit organisation and to help fund their newest initiative, the Bheka Project.

The project, which launches next year, is a drive to screen 1 000 school children across the province ensuring all grade ones have 20/20 vision in 2020. The initiative is called the Clicks for Christmas campaign which sees a donation of R200 help sponsor an eye screening.

BEC has partnered with Peek A Vu, using a machine Plusoptix Vision Screener, which is used across 98 per cent of pediatric practices in Europe.

The Plusoptix Vision Screener is used across 98 per cent of pediatric practices in Europe.

The reality is that our country doesnt currently have the systems in place to screen the eyes of children under the age of six at their vaccination appointments. On average one in 20 children suffer from an undetected visual disorder. This eye screening is superior as ordinary school vision/acuity tests do not test refractive errors accurately. The sooner visual disorders are detected and treated the greater the probability of successful treatment.More often than not, affected children dont notice their own visual disorders as they are accustomed to seeing the world through their own eyes with no way to compare. Little children who cannot see may be fidgety and have a hard time concentrating. Through the machine we are able to play our part in early detection of visual disorders in children younger than six, Aylett explained.

Speaking on the partnership with Peek A Vu, Aylett said the device allowed them to go into schools and offer eye tests to young children.

The cutting edge technology means we make no physical contact with the the child and the machine uses infrared technology in the form of refraction measurement to determine whether there is an underlying visual impairment. The screening takes seconds and a single click of the device and we have the an immediate pass or refer suit. Most little ones have no idea they have just had their eyes tested. We do not need to rely on verbal feedback from the child. Think of it as taking a photo of your little ones eyes. Click and its done. Early intervention is key.

The cutting edge technology means we make no physical contact with the the child and the machine uses infrared technology in the form of refraction measurement to determine whether there is an underlying visual impairment.

Through the Bheka Project, Aylett said the school would also like to help children from informal settlements who cannot afford eye tests.

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‘Today’: Savannah Guthrie’s Return to Work, Plus the Anchor Parties with Her Show Pals – Showbiz Cheat Sheet

Saturday, December 21st, 2019

The last four weeks have been rough for Todays Savannah Guthrie.

After her young son, Charley, accidentally hit her in the eye with the sharp end of a toy train at the end of November, the anchor suffered an injury to her retina. Its been an up and down journey for her but it looks like things are finally on the upswing for her.

Get the details on the Today party Guthrie got the green light from her doctors to attend, plus find out when shell finally be back on the job.

Once her doctors felt that laser treatments were no longer helping the 47-year-olds situation, they prepped her for surgery on Dec. 11.

Doctors initially had put hope in the laser treatments ability to address Guthries retinal damage. It did look promising the first week of December and the newswoman hoped she could avoid going under the knife.

Five laser treatments later, it was clear the severe injury of her retina was beyond their ability to help. And so, surgery became unavoidable.

It turned out to be kind of serious. They were afraid my retina would detach, Guthrierevealed to Today viewers. They told me to just take it easy and theyve been doing a bunch of laser procedures to avoid having to do the whole surgery.

She added, It was so blurry from not to get too gross but there was so much blood in my eye that it completely blocked my vision.

Post-surgery, the anchor has had to keep her head facedown to be sure the surgery worked. Now she can switch between being facedown and sitting upright.

Its uniquely challenging, this recovery, she says. Your body starts hurting in different places, lying down like that, she told PEOPLE the day after her surgery.

Although shes still recovering from very delicate eye surgery, People reported that the morning show host could not resist the opportunity to make it to the annual holiday party with the Today crew at Catch Steak on Wednesday night this week.

Guthrie documented her big night out on Instagram with a post showing herself, her co-anchor Hoda Kotb, 3rd Hour host Jenna Bush Hager, and executive producer Libby Leist all smiles.

Reunited and it feels so good,she posted. Loving up on my@todayshowgirls at the TODAY holiday party.

Kotb also posted the photo to her Instagram, saying Lookie lookie who is on the mend! @savannahguthriemade it to the@todayshowChristmas party and then everything was right xoxo

Willie Geist quipped that Guthrie said at the party, You all are a sight for sore eye, singular!

USA Today reports that Guthrie is planning her big return for after the holidays.

It will most probably be one more week before her doctor can tell if her eye can hold the retina on its own. Guthrie had hoped to return at the end of this week but thinks itll probably be after the holidays.

Read more: Today Show: What Is Carson Dalys Net Worth and Which Late Night Host Played a Huge Role in His Career?

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'Today': Savannah Guthrie's Return to Work, Plus the Anchor Parties with Her Show Pals - Showbiz Cheat Sheet

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What to do if vision deteriorates? – The Saxon

Saturday, December 21st, 2019

Glasses today the fashion and even become an accessory the youth picks up a massive rim on half of the face. Teaser four-eyes almost gone. Bespectacled become. Just not immediately. After all, children are born with a perfect vision But even the kids get in the hands of the phone or tablet. To stop technical progress is impossible. So what to do?

See also: Read from the screen of the gadget in transport or on the go bad: this is especially dangerous for childrens eyes

If we are talking about young children, then surely we must limit their communication with a phone or a tablet, says the head of the Department of ophthalmology of the National medical Academy of postgraduate education named after P. L. Shupyk Professor Sergey Rykov. The eye is being shaped, with prolonged stress on the eye muscles can form incorrectly. Then already in the first class many children need glasses. We, however, advocate that even congenital problems strabismus, myopia and other repair by the time when the child starts school. So the choice for parents how to save eyesight child.

In adults the eye is already formed. What factors affect vision?

One of the main strain of the eye muscles. If a person for a long time staring at objects up close, muscles tense, and gradually the eye loses its ability to change focus, to switch quickly from near objects to far. The ability to accommodate the inherent nature. If it is not claimed, myopia develops.

But in fact before schoolchildren it started, but the adults have progressed.

Yes, and to slow down the process, we recommend special exercises to relax the eye muscles. Teachers had to replant students on the first Desk, the last. But now the problem is in the gadgets. It concerns both children and adults. The fact that the screen is a Ticker. And when we look at the moving text, the eye muscles tense up to five (!) times stronger. In addition, people blink much less frequently, the cornea badly washed by tears and there is dryness of the eyes. And this is a disease.

Result in the need to pick up points

Or contact lenses. But to do it properly. In most optical stores have special equipment with which the optometrist (a specialist in the selection of points) can accurately determine which glasses or lenses you need. Options there are many bifocal, trifocal, coated, without him.

What if before the eyes of murky veil fly or flies? Who needs to remove cataracts? How long can I wear contact lenses removing?

To these and other questions from our readers on Monday, December 23 from 15:00 to 16:00 during the direct line of FACTS will answer ophthalmologist Professor Sergey Rykov.

Call in edition by phone (044) 503-77-74

Pre-send questions to the email address [email protected]

The material on a straight line read on Thursday, January 9, 2020.

See also: Red eye is a symptom of many diseases requiring serious treatment

Maria Batterburyis a general assignment reporter at the Saxon. She has covered sports, entertainment and many other beats in her journalism career, and has lived in Manhattan for more than 8 years. Vivian has appeared periodically on national television shows and has been published in (among others) NPR, Politico, The Atlantic, Harpers, Wired.com, Vice and Salon.com..

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These home vision tests offer a clear look at the state of your eyesight – Boing Boing

Thursday, December 19th, 2019

Concerned about your eyesight? You probably should be. And we're not just talking about seniors here. Young or old, we're all at risk of coming down with vision issues

Most of us might get a vision test only once every couple of years or so when we get a new pair of glasses - if that. And there's not many who can afford regular preventative trips to an optometrist.

Luckily, there's an effective middle ground. The vision experts at EyeQue have a range of home test kits that can help you keep track of your vision.

The basic Personal Vision Tracker makes the whole procedure simple, not to mention inexpensive. You can use it multiple times over years for less than the cost of a single visit to most eye doctors. It's a device that attaches and pairs with your smartphone and allows you to get accurate readings on your vision within minutes. You can even use the results to order eyeglasses online from eyeque.com.

Need a little more in-depth info? The EyeQue VisionCheck is a similar unit that you can even use with your eyeglasses on if you'd like to confirm that your current prescription is up to snuff. This unit also lets you track your vision ratings by doing tests once a month and comparing your stats.

There's even the EyeQue Insight, a more full-featured version of the test that's tailor-made for kids but packed with useful info for all ages. The dual-lens device again attaches to your smartphone, and the tests are sweetened up for the younger set by way of an animated mascot and virtual prizes. By the time they're done, you'll have an accurate reading on their vision that determine conditions like color blindness and provide advance warning about conditions like glaucoma and cataracts.

They're all on sale for the holiday season, and might be the most valuable gift your eyes ever get.

EyeQue Personal Vision Tracker

MSRP: $35

Sale Price: $24.99

EyeQue VisionCheck

MSRP: $69

Sale Price: $46.99

EyeQue Insight: Visual Acuity, Color & Contrast Screening

MSRP: $89

Sale Price: $49.99

Facebook offered a revealing explanation to lawmakers for why it continues to track users locations even after those users turn Facebooks location tracking services off.

After LifeLabs was hit by a a cyber attack in November, the Canada-based medical lab paid a ransom to recover stolen data belonging to more than 15 million of its customers. That stolen data included usernames, password, and some 80,000 or more test results.

Google denies claim of illegal and retaliatory firing

If you snore, you know it can be infuriating for your partner. But did you know it can also be unhealthy for you? Yep, those sawing logs that you cant even hear can be a warning buzzer, increasing your risk for stroke. There are cures for snoring that involve everything from nose strips to full-on []

Weve all heard that Boy Scout motto, be prepared. These days most everybody is, thanks to the most useful emergency device of all time: The smartphone. Except, of course, when they run out of power. Which is why if you really want to be prepared, get a power bank like the HyperCharger PRO V.2 All-in-One []

Want to get people really into the music at your next house party? Well, a killer playlist is clearly key. But we have to say, this amazingly striking sculpture/speaker combo is a pretty good plan B. This polygonal curiosity is the ADOM Prime: Kalium Humanoid Speaker. He looks like he just stepped off a prog []

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The secret to better eyesight? Just add oxygen (and millions of years of evolution). – News@Northeastern

Thursday, December 19th, 2019

When we look at a painting, its colors and images enter our eyes as waves of light. Thanks to a layer of tissue at the back of our eyes known as the retina, the vibrant yellows and subtle blues of van Goghs Starry Night are translated into electrical signals for our brains to interpret.

This remarkable part of our eye is actually an extension of our brain tissue. And just like our brain, the retina needs a lot of oxygen to function properly.

A study published by an international collaboration of researchers recently revealed just how important a steady supply of oxygen was to the evolution of a thicker retina, and therefore better vision.

425 million years ago, the researchers found, your ancestor was a fish with mediocre eyesight. And its sight couldnt improve until it evolved new ways for oxygen to reach the retina.

We showed that in the ancestor of most vertebrates, the retina was likely thin and had a relatively poor oxygen supply to it, says H. William Detrich, a professor of marine and environmental sciences at Northeastern. As species evolved, when the retina increased in thickness, it was always accompanied by one of several mechanisms that improve retinal oxygen delivery.

H. William Detrich is a professor of marine and environmental sciences in the College of Science at Northeastern. Photo by Matthew Modoono/Northeastern University

The researchers collected information about retinal thicknesses and oxygen delivery mechanisms in 87 vertebrate species around the world and examined the evolutionary links between them. They found that several unique ways had evolved to bring oxygen to the retina, and any vertebrate with good vision exhibited at least one of them.

Around 280 million years ago, when todays continents were still squished together in a giant land mass we now call Pangea, the first of these changes showed up in fish.

Hemoglobin, the protein in red blood cells that binds with oxygen, mutated in a way that made it extremely sensitive to acid. When the blood became even slightly acidic, the mutated hemoglobin would release a large portion of the oxygen it was holding.

In the layer of the eye right behind the retina, called the choroid, a web of capillaries evolved. This network, known as the rete mirabile (latin for miracle network, Detrich says), maintained a slightly acidic environment. When blood passed through it, oxygen was forced out of the hemoglobin to diffuse into the retina at high concentrations.

These changes were accompanied by the evolution of thicker retinas and larger eyes in fish. The influx of oxygen allowed fish eyes to sustain more cells to help them resolve finer details in an image and see better in low light.

While the choroid rete mirabile is still prevalent in fish today, it never evolved in vertebrates on land. These animals instead evolved networks of capillaries within the retina itself, or immediately in front of it, providing oxygen more directly to retinal cells. But this solution was a tradeoff, Detrich says, because the blood vessels could potentially interfere with vision by scattering incoming light.

The researchers found that these mechanisms evolved and vanished from evolutionary history multiple times. Some animals, like the Mexican blind cave fish, adapted to environments where eyesight wasnt that important, and lost some of the mutations that would bring oxygen to the eye. Ancient mammals evolved more capillaries in and around their retinas when they began being active in the daylight and relying more heavily on vision, about 100 million years ago.

Antarctic icefishes, which Detrich has been studying for decades, were a special case. They lost their red blood cells and hemoglobin in an evolutionary accident, and had to adapt.

The absence of hemoglobin in the icefishes means that they cannot provide oxygen to the retina using the choroid rete mirabile, Detrich says. If those fish were to maintain a decent retinal sickness, another mechanism of oxygen supply had to evolve.

Detrich was on an expedition in Antarctica when he received an email from Christian Damsgaard, the studys lead author. Damsgaard wanted to include icefish and several other Antarctic fish species in the study, but didnt have any high-quality specimens.

I wrote back and said, Well, I happened to be in Antarctica at the moment. And we can rectify that problem, Detrich says.

Detrich and his team collected fresh specimens and blood samples from five species of fish: two icefish species, and three Antarctic species that never lost their red blood.

The researchers found that the icefish species had retinas that were just as thick as those of the other Antarctic species, despite losing their oxygen-carrying hemoglobin. To keep supplying oxygen to their eyes, the icefish had evolved extensive networks of capillaries in front of their retinas.

It was a particularly informative aspect, Detrich says.

The odd evolutionary twist of the icefish helps to fill out a larger picture linking a steady supply of oxygen to better vision. Combined with analyses of other vertebrates around the world, it gives us a better fundamental understanding of how our eyes, and the eyes of every other vertebrate, came to be.

This really advances our state of knowledge about eye evolution, Detrich says. Our study is the most comprehensive attempt to synthesize our understanding of the vertebrate eye.

For media inquiries, please contact Shannon Nargi at s.nargi@northeastern.edu or 617-373-5718.

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Defying vision limitations to become grandmasters – Hindustan Times

Thursday, December 19th, 2019

Pune: Facing difficulties in learning the sport, inadequate coaches and taunts from sighted players all these obstacles hardly matter for Megha Chakraborty and Somendra who dream to become grandmasters one day.

Chakraborty from West Bengal and Delhi boy Somendra have represented India in Asian Para Games, 2018,Jakarta, Indonesia and Asian Blind Championship, 2018 in Udupi, Karnataka respectively.

The duo is currently in city to participate in the National School Chess Championship for the Blind ongoing at Mumbai Maratha Fruitwala Dharamshala, Alandi.

Seventeen-year-old Chakraborty can only see from her left eye since her birth. She was introduced to the sport in Class 3.

I used to observe my seniors play chess at my blind hostel in Kolkata. I asked them about the game and learnt the basics, said Chakraborty.

Challenge from sighted players

Whenever I used to play chess, sighted players used to taunt me and say that I cannot beat them or become a successful player because of my sight limitations. My reply used to be that I will beat them all if given a chance.

I started practicing hard and now I play in both categories. I can compete against sighted players, said Chakraborty, who partnering with Mrunalini Pande won the silver medal in womens team Rapid VI B2/B3 and bronze in womens team Standard VI B2/B3 in 2018, Asian Para Games, 2018, Jakarta.

No fear of blindness

Chakraborty knows that she might loss her vision completely in a few years, but the thought does not make her weak.

We have raised her in such a way that now we discuss more about becoming a best player in chess instead of worrying about losing eyesight. The doctor has told us clearly that sight in left eye is getting weaker every day, but that is not is our hand. Our only aim is to give best in chess, said Bandana, mother of Megha Chakraborty.

Life is about playing chess and kabaddi for Somendra

Somendra became partially blind at the age of five in his hometown Kaisargang in Uttar Pradesh.

I was suffering from chickenpox, and then lost my eyesight (right eye). I was shifted to Delhi in a blind school, said Somendra, who is playing chess since 2014 by observing his hostel mates. It was totally a new sport for Somendra who used to play kabaddi.

I gave chess a try and soon I started enjoying it. Rules were a bit tough, but soon I started to defeat good players. I took part in National Blind Championship, where in 2016 I won silver and in 2018, managed to bag gold, said Somendra, who is also a raider when it comes to kabaddi.

Advantage for sighted players

Somendra plays against sighted and partially blind players. He finds games against sighted players tough as the latter have more advantage.

They (sighted player) can plan their moves in a much better way than us. Especially when time is less they can make fast moves which irritates me sometimes, but I try to give my best, Somendra said.

Next aim

Playing regular chess and becoming a successful player is Somendras next focus. The Class 11 student has chalked a plan to achieve the goal.

Megha Chakraborty, 1232 FIDE rank

We have many successful blind players in the country. All they need is more support from government and coaches to win more medals.

Somendra, 1423 FIDE rank

Playing more international tournaments is my aim now as it will help me to improve my game. I will also focus on listening chess audio books to learn new tricks about the game.

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Test if your eyesight is worsening with EyeQue VisionCheck for $51 (Orig. $69) – 9to5Toys

Thursday, December 19th, 2019

Getting your eyes tested usually takes time and money. But with the EyeQue VisionCheck, you can check your vision at home. This gadget even lets you order new glasses via your smartphone. This CES 2019 Innovation Awards Honoree is now only $51 (Orig. $69) at 9to5Toys Specials with promo code: MERRYSAVE15.

Getting your eyes tested by a health professional is important. But between those full checkups, you might want to keep track of your eyesight. EyeQue VisionCheck helps you do just that.

The device works in combination with your phone screen. You simply look through the eyepiece and follow the test instructions; VisionCheck does the rest. In seconds, you get an accurate reading of your vision. The app can also measure your pupillary distance with a selfie.

After three tests, you should have enough data to order new eyeglasses. The app offers a huge range of stylish frames at very reasonable prices. The EyeQue app even lets you upload your prescription, so you get the right lenses every time.

Normally priced at $69, the EyeQue VisionCheck is now 26% off MSRP at $51 with promo code MERRYSAVE15 at checkout.

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Eyeglasses, Speech Therapy And Other Services Returning To Medi-Cal Benefit List – Capital Public Radio News

Thursday, December 19th, 2019

For the past decade, low-income adults on the Medi-Cal program have been covered for visual exams and other eye services, but not eyeglasses themselves. Theyve had to pay for those out of pocket, along with other excluded benefits such as podiatry, some hearing services and incontinence treatments.

But starting in 2020, these benefits are back on the list.

The federal government considers some services optional for Medicaid patients. So they were the first to go when California needed to shrink the Medi-Cal budget in 2009, said Jedd Hampton, director of policy at senior advocacy group LeadingAge California.

Across the board these services, though theyre seen as optional benefits, they provide a whole wraparound element for the overall wellness of that individual, he said, noting that seniors were hit especially hard by the benefit cuts.

The latest state budget allocates $17.4 million to cover eyeglasses, podiatry, audiology and other benefits starting Jan. 1.

This is the next step in an ongoing process of restoring previously cut Medi-Cal benefits. The state has restored dental coverage in recent years, and acupuncture has also returned as a covered service.

But the lack of vision services has remained a problem. Roughly 2 million Medi-Cal enrollees between ages 21 and 64 need glasses, according to the California Optometric Association. Children and people living in nursing homes are currently covered for glasses.

Those that had the ability to get glasses were able to perform their work functions better, they were able to drive more effectively, and read better,which is really unfair, unfortunately, said David Ardaya, chairman of the associations health care delivery systems committee. He added that people are more likely to seek routine eye exams if they know eyeglasses will be covered.

The need for eyeglasses is likely to continue as more Californians develop diabetes, which can cause eye disease. Patients with diabetes are also more likely to need toe or foot amputations, which require soon-to-be-covered podiatric care.

The Department of Health Care Services says it plans to notify all Medi-Cal providers and beneficiaries about the newly covered services.

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Ryan Searle back at the PDC World Darts Championship despite struggling to see the board – Metro.co.uk

Thursday, December 19th, 2019

Ryan Searle battles blurred vision as well as his opponent (Picture: Getty Images)

Ryan Searle is back for a second crack at the PDC World Darts Championship this year and will be battling his poor eyesight as well as his first round opponent.

The 32-year-old suffers from astigmatism which causes blurred vision, to the extent that he often cannot see where his darts land.

The world number 52 often has to check with the referee what he has hit with his arrows and will sometimes just be guessing if he has nailed the intended target or not.

Despite this, Searle had a superb debut at Alexandra Palace last year, reaching the last 16 after beating Mensur Suljovic, Willie OConnor and Stephen Burton.

The win over seventh seed Suljovic was a huge shock 12 months ago, and he explained his condition to Dan Dawson after the victory.

Even when I was at school I couldnt see the blackboard.Its something Ive always played with, I do really struggle, Searle told Dawson.

But considering that, I dont play too bad.

Dawson explained further on Twitter: Astigmatism in his dominant eye. Everythings blurry. Goes a lot on the feel of whether darts are in.

Some miss the target by a distance and he has to check with the ref where theyve landed.

Astigmatism means your eye is shaped more like a rugby ball than a football, so light is focused at more than one place in the eye.

This can cause:

blurred visionheadacheseye strain (you may notice this after concentrating for a long time on a computer, for example)

Courtesy of NHS.uk

Searle is back in first round action in the 2020 World Championship against 26-year-old Australian Robbie King, who is making his debut at the Alexandra Palace.

The Aussie won the DPA Oceanic Masters title to reach the big one, but has only been seen once before on TV as he averaged just 77 in a first round loss to Rob Cross at the Melbourne Darts Masters.

MORE: Devastated Michael Smith reacts to shock PDC World Darts Championship exit to Luke Woodhouse

MORE: Raymond van Barneveld reacts to nightmare loss in final PDC World Darts Championship match

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"Invisible Sight" Reveals Secrets of Vision – Technology Networks

Wednesday, December 11th, 2019

It started with scientific astonishment. Why is there a green glow when looking at an infrared emitting device? "Such a strange phenomenon was observed by my colleagues when they installed an imaging device at the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Torun," says Prof. Wojtkowski. "They came to me sharing this interesting observation that although they use infrared, which should no longer be visible, they still see something; such a weak, greenish light. And why did they look into the assembled device? "Well," laughs the professor, "such human nature and curiosity. Every time you assemble something, you look inside. It's true that it's always risky to look in such device, because the infrared source is the laser, but it's safe to do so while maintaining the laser's power in accordance with the standards.

The scientists' first thought was that the laser was broken and, in addition to infrared (light wavelength similar to that used in old TV remote controls) generated green light. So, they dismantled the laser and meticulously checked what could have broken down. They found nothing. Then someone came up with the simple but ingenious idea to put a filter in front of the eye of the observer, which would cut off visible light. They found the correct filters, put them between the laser and the eye and to their surprise the effect remained. "Our jaws dropped a little because that meant that the device was fine, but something strange was happening in the eye," says the professor. "Fortunately, there was another, very good laser at hand that generated ultra-short pulses of light and could be used to adjust the wavelength, of course in the infrared range. We started to change this length and it turned out that each one evoked a different color effect in the eye - we could perceive various colors! What's more, not weakly, but very clearly." As it happens with such discoveries, it turned out that people had observed it before, but nobody had any idea how to explain it, or they couldn't interpret it correctly.

This unexpected color vision turned out to be two-photon vision. "Luckily, at that time we were being visited by Professor Krzysztof Palczewski, who is a biochemist working in the USA and dealing with vision processes," recalls Professor Wojtkowski. "He was very interested in our discovery. So much so, that he organized a group of experts in various fields (including our team) to explain the mechanism of this vision. Tests were performed on mice, including genetically modified ones. Kasia Komar and Patryk Stremplewski from my team carried out tests on people, because our main expertise is in measurements on living eyes," explains the professor. "After collecting all the results, it turned out that we were dealing with two-photon vision."

This involves the retina receiving a portion of energy half as low as the minimum required for the reaction of photosensitive cells, but very concentrated in time and space; and if the impulse is delivered, then the subject, e.g. a human, sees it as if it were twice as high. It's a bit like throwing small plasticine balls onto a board twice, in the same place and time. The imprint of both balls merges on the board into a larger, visible one. You can also imagine being hit on the head with these sorts of balls. We wouldn't feel any one of them singly, but a double portion could give us a bruise.

This is what happens in the quantum world, the condition being that you have to throw these balls close enough to themselves and appropriately close to one another in time - so that they basically stick together into larger blobs. Physicists call this the optical non-linear effect. Such effects are known for many materials, but it is not obvious that they can occur in doses that are safe, e.g. for the eye. "Until we'd dealt with this ourselves, I myself had thought that two-photon absorption in the eye could occur only once (in principle, once in one eye, once in the fellow eye)," laughs the professor, "After which it wouldn't be possible to see anything. Fortunately, I was wrong."

On the other hand, in the eye there are a lot of intermediaries between what absorbs photon energy (i.e. retinal cells) and what introduces the image in our brain. Photon absorption in itself does not guarantee that we see something. A number of proteins must react. However, it turns out that this process called phototransduction does take place.

And what can it be useful for? For instance, to check if the eye breaks down. With age or at the outset of a disease, say, macular degeneration (AMD), the effect is poorer. Hence the idea for a new generation of machines for microperimetry, i.e. checking whether we see and what we see at various points on the retina. Researchers thought that perhaps thanks to the two-photon effect, the sensitivity of such devices could be improved, or the threshold of infrared light could be measured. "Thanks to AM2M - a company that is a spinout from the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toru, we have already started to produce new microperimetry machines," the professor says with pride. "There are three in the world right now, and the fourth and fifth and sixth in our country.

What speaks in favor of the new discovery and the devices based on it is also that with age, the human eye becomes more and more turbid and disperses light waves more. Meanwhile, the principle of physics says that the longer the wave, the less it disperses. Infrared will therefore allow for a more thorough examination of the fundus also in people with advanced cataracts or vitreous floaters. Scientists hope that thanks to their device we will detect functional retinal changes, mainly AMD earlier on, but also better understand the process of vision. Indeed, these are the goals of the new MAB (International Research Agenda) working to improve the eyesight of older people.

"As part of our MAB we will try to objectify this process, i.e. move from a little subjective perimetry to objective ophthalmoscopy," the professor advances to the future, "Using holographic optical tomography. We will analyze functional signals on a principle similar as in tympanometry. This will allow us to determine whether the patient sees and what he sees, without feedback from him, even when he is unconscious or unable to communicate, e.g. after a stroke."

"Thanks to the work of Dr. Katarzyna Komar, we have noticed something that we cannot yet explain," adds Professor Wojtkowski. "Namely, infrared vision is different from normal vision. Cones appear to react differently to rods - they seem to be more sensitive. Now we are trying to understand what this results from." We, the potential patients, can only support the researchers, so that thanks to their discoveries our eyes serve us better and for longer.

Reference

Ruminski et al. (2019) Two-photon microperimetry: sensitivity of human photoreceptors to infrared light. Biomedical Optics Express. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3000524

This article has been republished from the following materials. Note: material may have been edited for length and content. For further information, please contact the cited source.

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It’s important to look after the gift of sight – AOP

Wednesday, December 11th, 2019

Before you went for a sight test, had you experienced any symptoms?

Donald Broughton (DB): My main symptoms were that my eye became tired and painful due to the amount of concentration required for the work that I was doing as a hairdresser.

DB: I knew I had shrapnel in my eye from previous eye examinations. However, Deepak was the first person to consider referring me to have it removed as it was causing a cataract. When I was 16-years-old, I was hunting in Tatton Park in Cheshire and one of the pellets ricocheted from my friends gun and entered my eye.

DB: I was quite unsure if anything could be done. However, I was happy to go along with having it removed. The optometrist was confident and I had nothing to lose.

DB: We are still working on certain aspects of the treatment, but Im pleased with the progress. The surgeon left the pellet in the eye because it had been there for over 60 years but he removed the cataract caused by the pellet. I am awaiting surgery on my other eye because of anisometropia. I have intermittent double vision that I hope will be resolved with surgery.

DB: I have always had regular eye tests. Its important to look after the gift of sight. You dont value what you have until its gone.

DB: After post-operative challenges have settled theres been a dramatic improvement in my vision.

I knew I had shrapnel in my eye from previous eye examinations

Deepak Oberai (DO): Mr Broughton had a dense cataract that was obstructing his vision as a result of a pellet that was stuck in his eye. If removed, it would significantly improve his eyesight. After conducting an optical coherence tomography (OCT) scan it was clear to me that I could help him.

I was very interested in the nature of Mr Broughtons injury and why no treatment or further investigation had been offered in the past. I had to be persistent but referred to him a local eye surgeon. The consultant found the shot gun pellet that was embedded in his lens and was causing a cataract.

DO: We are fortunate enough to have an OCT device, which identified that his retina was still intact. With this information, I was confident that a cataract removal was possible.

DO: My colleague, Claire, took a message saying that the procedure had been successful and how shocked the patient was that the treatment was successful. Since then I have been in contact with both the surgeon and the patient to make sure things are working well.

DO:

Pictured is Mr Oberai and Mr Broughton.

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How oxygen shaped evolution of better eyesight – Mirage News

Wednesday, December 11th, 2019

A new international study involving the University of Liverpool reveals how the evolution of powerful vision was shaped by an improved oxygen supply to the eyes.

Keen eyesight in vertebrates from fish to birds and mammals relies on large eyes and thick retinas. Yet the visual process is energetically costly and the high oxygen demand of thick retinas is difficult to meet by the conventional oxygen supply mechanism through blood vessels just behind the retina.

In a study published in eLife, a team of researchers from 15 institutions led by the University of Aarhus and the University of Liverpool has explored the physiological requirements for the evolution of improved eyesight. Their findings uncover a fascinating pattern of mechanisms to improve retinal oxygen supply that evolved in concert with enhanced retinal morphology to improve vision.

The study took advantage of the diversity in form and function among eyes from 87 animal species. By mapping the characteristics of their eyes onto the species tree of life, the researchers unravelled the evolutionary history of the eye from a 425 million-year-old extinct ancestor of modern vertebrates to current day animals. They identified three distinct physiological mechanisms for retinal oxygen supply that are always associated with improved vision.

The first mechanism is present in many fishes and involves mutations in haemoglobin that were associated with the ability to deliver oxygen to the retina at exceptionally high concentrations to overcome the long diffusion distance to the retinal cells. This mechanism was subsequently lost several times, possibly to avoid oxidative damage and gas bubble formation in the eye. Secondly, oxygen delivery could be improved by blood vessels supplying oxygen from the front of the retina or, thirdly, even directly from within the retina, which, however, can obstruct the light path to the retinal photoreceptor cells.

These different trade-offs to retinal oxygen supply appear to be acceptable in the presence of the improved visual power available when the thickness of the retina was allowed to increase.

The study applied state-of-the-art high-frequency ultrasound, micro-computerised tomography (CT), and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques used in medical research, to unravel the blood supply mechanisms in some very small eyes or in exceptional museum specimens, such as the eye of the living fossil old fourlegs or coealacanth (Latimeria chalumnae).

It was particularly rewarding to be able to collaborate with this team of comparative animal physiologists and medics and help them to reconstruct the evolution of physiological characteristics on the vertebrate family tree, says Liverpools Dr Michael Berenbrink, one of the three senior authors of the study.

Our conclusions are supported by some natural knockouts, such as Antarctic icefishes, which have lost haemoglobin in their blood and evolved a supplemental retinal oxygen supply mechanism of pre-retinal capillaries, or Mexican cavefishes, which have rudimentary eyes and consequently get by with haemoglobins that are less efficient for retinal oxygen supply, Dr Berenbrink continues.

Overall, the study shows that adaptations to ensure oxygen delivery to the retina were a physiological prerequisite for the functional evolution of the eye, illustrating the importance of a thorough knowledge of physiological mechanisms for understanding the evolution of complex structures.

Research reference

The study Retinal oxygen supply shaped the functional evolution of the vertebrate eye is published in eLife. https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.52153

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Woman Has Vision Problems & Starts Leaking Fluid From Eye After Overworking at Her Job – WORLD OF BUZZ

Wednesday, December 11th, 2019

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A woman surnamed Peng began leaking from her eyes after working too much at her job. However, she wasnt leaking tears but fluid that had built up under her retina.

According to China Press, the woman from Guangdong, China had frequently worked overtime which resulted in the deterioration of her eyesight.

When she went for medical treatment, she told the doctor that her eyesight was worsening and everything she looked at was blurry. She also said that tears often flowed out.

However, the doctor said this eye-leakage was due to the build-up of fluid under the retina, which is a condition called central serous chorioretinopath.

According to Medical News Today, the retina is responsible for translating light taken into the eye as images the brain can understand. The build-up of liquid can cause the retina to detach, and this can cause vision problems.

In this case, the doctor told the woman that the fluid build-up was caused by overwork of her eye, causing her retina to detach. This condition often happens to people in their mid-40s and is one of the most common retinal diseases.

No treatment is actually required for this condition. Patients only need to rest while the fluid drains out on its own.

In the case where the fluid does not drain out, medication, thermal laser treatment and lifestyle changes are some of the options a patients can consider to treat the condition.

Some lifestyle changes include reducing overall stress levels, sleeping for at least seven hours every night and avoiding alcoholic drinks.

Dont overwork yourself and remember to sleep early, guys! Your health is more important than your job.

Also read: 36yo Collapses & Dies During Job Interview As He Always Work OT in Previous Office

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Savannah Guthrie Has to Go Through This Treatment After Her Scary Eye Injury – Showbiz Cheat Sheet

Wednesday, December 11th, 2019

After Today Show anchor Savannah Guthries eye injury last week, during which her young son accidentally hit her in the eye with a toy, the anchor is slowly getting better. But it couldve been much worse.

Find out how the 47-year-old is doing and what she has to go through for her treatments to her injury.

According to Guthrie, she was at home with her son when he accidentally jammed her in the eye with one of his toys. The result was a torn retina.

After the incident last week, Guthrie spoke by phone to Today to describe what happened to cause her to stay away from her duties on the morning show.

I got hit Charleythrew a toy train right at my eye and it tore my retina, Guthrieexplained.

It happened last week, actually, and then I lost my vision in my right eye about 24 hours later and then it turned outto be kind of serious. They were afraid my retina was detached.

The vision is getting better every day, but Im still blurry, Guthrie told her co-anchors on Today last week. Right now its like having one contact (lens) in and (one) out. When it first started though, it was like a complete blur. I couldnt have seen anything.

Thankfully, Guthrie was able to avoid surgery on her eye. Shes had five laser treatment sessions to help heal her retina, and especially in order to not have surgery, which can be risky.

The first laser I actually did I had to go under for, it was kind of an emergency, like they rushed me in there, they shot me up with the big laser, and they were actually not sure it had worked at all, and they thought I was going to have to have this surgery, the mom of twoexplained this week.

Its been a traumatizing week for the anchor, with doctors not being completely sure if she would need high-risk retinal surgery. But in the end, it appears the laser treatments have thankfully done the trick.

Basically the eye jiggles, and the retina is like saran wrap, so when you get hit, saran wrap can very easily tear, can get a hole in it, and thats not a good thing, she said. Laser, if you have a small enough tear . . . can basically weld down the outside of the tear to prevent . . . more of the retina detaching. . . you dont actually have to go to the operating room.

Despite the discomfort and pain she was in, the mother of two still managed to power through it all and co-host the Thanksgiving Day Parade with a big smile on her face.

Im actuallystill hoping I can do the parade tomorrow.Im not supposed to, like, jump up and down or anything because itskind of like literally hanging by a thread, Guthrie said. But Imvery positivebecause I think its going to be OK.

As it turned out, she was in wonderful spirits and did a great job with her Today co-hosts at fronting the parade. Guthrie clearly isnt going to let a little thing like a torn retina stop her from celebrating the holidays!

Read more: Al Roker Reveals What Used To Cause Him to Overeat and Why Hes Never Going Back to Fat

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Savannah Guthrie Has to Go Through This Treatment After Her Scary Eye Injury - Showbiz Cheat Sheet

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