News, Links and Commentary
Friday, May 27, 2005
Up Close and Visual
If you enjoy visual weblogs, check out ol book 1 by Greg Tippett. Greg is an Australian artist who also has Leber's Congenital Amaurosis, a form of retinal degeneration.
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Tuesday, May 17, 2005
Neurotech Find Treatment Safe For People With RP
Neurotech has announced positive results after a safety trial of NT-501. NT-501 uses Neurotech's patented Encapsulated Cell Technology (ECT) to deliver ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF) to eyes of patients with retinitis pigmentosa:
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Results confirm that CNTF can be safely delivered into the vitreous of patients with RP and that the ECT device was well tolerated by all patients. Futhermore, some patients experienced more than one-line of improvement in their visual acuity score. These Phase I results were presented at the ARVO annual meeting and the trial was conducted at the National Eye Institute (NEI), Bethesda, USA. Neurotech has confirmed that it will now progress to a multi-center Phase II trial.
ECT, a technique developed and patented by Neurotech, allows for genetically-engineered specific protein delivery without manipulating the patient's genetic information or transferring new genetic information into the target tissue. The Phase I study of NT-501 involved 10 patients with late-stage RP. The study was designed as an open-label safety and tolerability evaluation. Two doses of CNTF (5-fold difference in dose) were evaluated. Phase Ia treated 5 patients with a lower dose; Phase Ib treated 5 patients with a higher dose. The ECT device was implanted in one eye per patient and removed after six months.
'Phase I Data for NT- 501 Encapsulated Cell Delivery of Ciliary Neurotrophic Factor to Eyes of Retinitis Pigmentosa Patients' Neurotech media release at Medical News Today, 2 May 2005.
Technology Outlook In Perth, Western Australia
The Association for the Blind (WA) is holding the Technology Outlook expo this Friday 21 and Saturday 22 May between 10am and 4pm at the Alexander Library in Perth. Suppliers will be available to discuss low vision products and presentations by representatives from Optek Systems, Quantum, Visitech Magnifiers, and ViewPlus are scheduled for Saturday. HumanWare's new myReader will also be demonstrated. For more information, contact the Association.
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NZ Technology Makes Reading Easier For People With Low Vision
Adaptive technology company HumanWare have released myReader, an award-winning automatic reading machine for people with low vision. Designed and manufactured in New Zealand with the assistance of the Human Interface Technology Lab, myReader was chosen as ?Best Design? by the New Zealand Institute of Designers.
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Using advanced digital technology, myReader captures the text placed underneath its camera and displays it on a built-in 15 inch, flicker-free LCD screen. myReader can then enlarge the text and re-format it so it appears in one of three ways: a column designed to fit the whole screen, a row across the centre of the screen or just one word at a time. The text then automatically scrolls on the screen at the speed selected by the user.
'myReader from HumanWare Restores the Joy of Reading for Thousands of People with Severe Lo', HumanWare media release, 16 May 2005).
Sunday, May 15, 2005
Beginner Computer Users Can Twitter Away With New Software
Twitter is a new talking program that includes a word processor, e-mail, text-only Web browsing and a typing tutor. The program is designed specifically for people who are blind or vision impaired. Developer Steve Crawford, from Oxfordshire in the UK, hopes that Twitter will be a low-cost and easy-to-learn alternative to more expensive software. Steve is offering free installation and training to people living in Oxfordshire until the end of May.
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Saturday, May 14, 2005
Windows With Low Vision
If you need to change your Windows settings to better see the mouse, fonts or colours then check out 'Redoing Windows: A Guide for Customizing Windows for Users with Low Vision' by Amy R. Salmon (AccessWorld, May 2005, Volume 6, Number 3).
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Friday, May 13, 2005
Adaptive Technology Weblog
Glen from Melbourne recently began a weblog to review the technology used by people who are blind or have vision impairments. Check out the The Blind Blogger.
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Wednesday, May 11, 2005
Flies With Usher Syndrome Help Scientists Learn About Hearing
The study of fruit flies with the same cause of deafness as in people with Usher Syndrome Type 1B may help scientists to better understand how sound is converted to nerve impulses. Researchers from the University of Iowa and Duke University in North Carolina investigated how the protein myosin VIIA affects hearing, according to Science Blog ('Deaf Flies Yield Clues to Auditory Machinery', 9 May 2005).
The research was published in Current Biology on 10 May 2005 by Soko Todi and others. A summary of the report, titled 'Myosin VIIA Defects, which Underlie the Usher 1B Syndrome in Humans, Lead to Deafness in Drosophila' can be read online.
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The research was published in Current Biology on 10 May 2005 by Soko Todi and others. A summary of the report, titled 'Myosin VIIA Defects, which Underlie the Usher 1B Syndrome in Humans, Lead to Deafness in Drosophila' can be read online.
Saturday, May 07, 2005
Californian Implant Research Reported at ARVO
Researchers from the Doheny Eye Institute at the University of Southern California have announced that six patients are now able to detect light and motion thanks to a retinal implant. The findings were presented during the annual meeting of The Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology.
Researcher Mark Humayun is reported in Wired News as saying that the implant, known as the Argus, will be commercially produced by Second Sight Medical Products. The researchers plan for the Argus to be available by early 2008. The cost is likely to be between $30,000 and $50,000 USD.
Read more at Wired News in 'Jeepers Creepers, Bionic Peepers' (5 May 2005).
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Researcher Mark Humayun is reported in Wired News as saying that the implant, known as the Argus, will be commercially produced by Second Sight Medical Products. The researchers plan for the Argus to be available by early 2008. The cost is likely to be between $30,000 and $50,000 USD.
Read more at Wired News in 'Jeepers Creepers, Bionic Peepers' (5 May 2005).
Sunday, May 01, 2005
Opera 8 Now Available
Opera recently released the latest version of its browser, Opera 8. Users can now use voice commands and have Web pages read aloud. The 'Fit to window width' feature means that users who magnify pages using the browser's zoom will need not scroll horizontally to view enlarged pages. A sponsored version of Opera is available as a free download.
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