News, Links and Commentary
Wednesday, June 30, 2004
Artificial Vision Congress Held In Detroit
'The Eye and The Chip, World Congress on Artificial Vision' was recently held in the US city of Detroit. Sixteen patients have so far received retinal implants, experiencing some slight improvement in vision. Read more in the Detroit Free Press ('Chips give some sight to patients', 29 June 2004).
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Monday, June 28, 2004
Development, Not Charity, The Focus For Social Worker With RP
Social worker Murali Padmanabhan, 33, talks about his change in career path after a diagnosis of retinitis pigmentosa and his current work with the Madras unit of Cheshire Homes India in 'From darkness, to spread light' (Rediff, 22 June, 2004).
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Friday, June 25, 2004
Stanford Artificial Synapse Chip
While most retinal implants stimulate damaged nerve cells with an electrical current, a new device is hoped to stimulate these cells with neurotransmitters. The research, carried out by Mark Peterman and others at Stanford University in the US, was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. More information is available in the article's abstract ('Localized chemical release from an artificial synapse chip') or in the Stanford University Medical Center's public release ('Stanford researchers eye new chip's potential as an artificial retina' at EurekAlert, 21 June 2004).
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Tuesday, June 15, 2004
Aussie Chat Times Change
The Australian RD Chat Group is now meeting on Wednesday nights at 9pm Eastern Standard Time, 8.30pm Central Standard Time and 7pm here in Western Australia. Please feel free to call in and say g'day!
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Fruits, Not Lutein, May Protect Against AMD
Eating three or more serves of fruit a day may reduce the risk of age-related macular degeneration, according to preliminary research carried out by Eunyoung Cho and others at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. The study did not find vegetables, vitamins or carotenoids such as lutein to have a strong role in protecting the macular. ('Fruit helps ward off vision problems', Reuters in The Age, 15 June 2004).
The Archives of Ophthalmology published the findings and have made the research article, titled 'Prospective Study of Intake of Fruits, Vegetables, Vitamins, and Carotenoids and Risk of Age-Related Maculopathy', freely available on line.
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The Archives of Ophthalmology published the findings and have made the research article, titled 'Prospective Study of Intake of Fruits, Vegetables, Vitamins, and Carotenoids and Risk of Age-Related Maculopathy', freely available on line.
Thursday, June 10, 2004
Persistence Pays Off For Deaf Woman With RP
At the age of 56, Janet Kyricos Marcous will graduate from the University of Massachusetts Boston. Marcous, who is Deaf and was diagnosed with RP at 30, will also receive a prestigious award that recognises academic excellence. Read more about Marcous and what she has achieved despite much discrimination in '35 years later, she earns degree: Deaf-blind woman wins Kennedy Award' (Boston Globe, 3 June, 2004).
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Sunday, June 06, 2004
Adaptive Optics Reveals More About the Retina
Adaptive optics is a new technique that allows closer examination of the retina than ever before. Researchers at the University of Rochester recently used adaptive optics to learn more about a rare form of colour blindness called dichromatic colour blindness. It is hoped the technique will help researchers to learn more about other retinal conditions.
The research, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and reported by BBC News, showed that although one colour blind subject was missing nearly a third of the normal number of cones, vision was otherwise normal.
Lead researcher Dr Joseph Carroll was quoted as saying,
Read more in 'Colour blindness cell loss clue' (BBC News 4 June, 2004).
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The research, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and reported by BBC News, showed that although one colour blind subject was missing nearly a third of the normal number of cones, vision was otherwise normal.
Lead researcher Dr Joseph Carroll was quoted as saying,
If a third of the light-receiving cells in your eye are absent and you don't even notice it, it means that when a patient complains to a doctor about waning light sensitivity, then the damage must already be very serious.
Read more in 'Colour blindness cell loss clue' (BBC News 4 June, 2004).
Friday, June 04, 2004
Search For Accessiblity
Search facilities are available on my site through Atomz. Unfortunately, I was embarrassed to discover recently that the last time I asked Atomz to index my site was too long ago to be useful. I've now fixed this problem and I'm very sorry if the outdated search results inconvenienced or confused people.
I've now also improved the accessibility of my Search pages. Please Note: My search pages do not search this weblog, only my Web site. If you're wondering if I've covered a topic in my weblog, please feel free to browse the archives or to e-mail me.
Web accessibility is important to me and I hope that most of my visitors have no problems finding the information they need. I've now created a page of Web Accessibility Resources. My Internet Technology page still lists handy accesible Internet sites and links to technology and information for Internet users who are vision impaired or blind.
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I've now also improved the accessibility of my Search pages. Please Note: My search pages do not search this weblog, only my Web site. If you're wondering if I've covered a topic in my weblog, please feel free to browse the archives or to e-mail me.
Web accessibility is important to me and I hope that most of my visitors have no problems finding the information they need. I've now created a page of Web Accessibility Resources. My Internet Technology page still lists handy accesible Internet sites and links to technology and information for Internet users who are vision impaired or blind.
