[nfbwatlk] Fw: FDA clears first implantable telescope for vision

Sat Jul 10 16:17:19 UTC 2010

It seems to me the process of learning to use or integrate the new vision
could be quite intimidating for many seniors especially those for whom
vision is the least or at least low on the list of their disabilities, would
find this process difficult or extremely stressful.  When one factors in the
possibility of the implant process which can cause loss of remaining vision,
this leaves very few realistic candidates available.  If this is the
pinnacle of the research and development for the project, then a great deal
of research time and money have been used foolishly.   Personally I would
rather see research used to improve prevent blindness in the young and
youthful. At the age of 63<gads where did the time go?>we need to look to
the future and not try to accommodate a very few older persons who can't or
won't accept the blindness.

-I guess the project reelects more of the "boo hoo poor blind people"
philosophy 
"
KB

----Original Message-----
From: nfbwatlk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nfbwatlk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of Kaye Kipp
Sent: Tuesday, July 06, 2010 9:41 PM
To: NFB of Washington Talk Mailing List
Subject: Re: [nfbwatlk] Fw: FDA clears first implantable telescope for
vision

Good Lord.  You're right.  It's nutty.

Kaye
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Mike Freeman" <k7uij at panix.com>
To: "NFB of Washington Talk Mailing List" <nfbwatlk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Tuesday, July 06, 2010 8:31 PM
Subject: [nfbwatlk] Fw: FDA clears first implantable telescope for vision

> Nuttiness knows no bounds! Read on.
>
> Mike
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: Carl Jarvis
> To: wcb-l at wcbinfo.org
> Sent: Tuesday, July 06, 2010 8:17 PM
> Subject: [Wcb-l] FDA clears first implantable telescope for vision
>
>
>>From the aging and blindness committee:
>
> FDA clears first implantable telescope for vision
> July 6, 2010 - 6:03pm
> By LAURAN NEERGAARD
> AP Medical Writer
>
> WASHINGTON (AP) - U.S. health officials have approved a first-of-its-kind
> technology to counter a leading cause of blindness in older adults _ a 
> tiny
> telescope implanted inside the eye.
>
> The Implantable Miniature Telescope aims to help in the end stages of
> incurable age-related macular degeneration, a creeping loss of central
> vision that blocks reading, watching TV, eventually even recognizing 
> faces.
>
> The idea: Surgically insert the Implantable Miniature Telescope into one 
> eye
> for better central vision, while leaving the other eye alone to provide
> peripheral vision. The brain must fuse two views into a single image, and
> the Food and Drug Administration warned Tuesday that patients need
> post-surgery rehabilitation to make it work.
>
> There's little to help such advanced patients today aside from
> difficult-to-use handheld or glasses-mounted telescopes, while the new
> implanted telescope _ smaller than a pea _ can improve quality of life for
> the right candidate, said Dr. Malvina Eydelman, FDA's ophthalmic devices
> chief.
>
> But it's only for a subset of the nearly 2 million Americans with advanced
> macular degeneration, Eydelman warned: Those 75 and older, with a certain
> degree of vision loss, who also need a cataract removed. In fact, the FDA
> took the highly unusual step of requiring that patients and their surgeons
> sign a detailed "acceptance of risk agreement" before surgery, 
> acknowledging
> potential side effects _ including corneal damage and worsened vision _ 
> and
> the need for lots of testing to determine who's a candidate.
>
> "We're not giving people back 20-year-old eyes," cautioned ophthalmic
> surgeon Dr. Kathryn Colby of Harvard and the Massachusetts Eye and Ear
> Infirmary in Boston. She helped lead manufacturer VisionCare Ophthalmic
> Technologies' study of the implant.
>
> But by magnifying images onto more of the retina than its diseased center,
> someone who before couldn't see an entire face might now miss only the 
> nose,
> Colby said.
>
> In a 219-patient study, the FDA said 90 percent of telescope recipients 
> had
> their vision improve by at least two lines on an eye chart, and
> three-quarters went from severe to moderate vision impairment.
>
> Concern about damage to the inside lining of the cornea, the eye's clear
> front covering that helps focus light, held up FDA approval for several
> years. In that study, 10 eyes had serious corneal swelling, five that
> required corneal transplants. FDA's Eydelman said the company proposed
> candidate restrictions to minimize that risk, and will study how an
> additional 770 recipients fare after sales begin.
>
> VisionCare, of Saratoga, Calif., is seeking Medicare coverage for the
> surgery and rehab costs, a package that it calls CentraSight. The company
> wouldn't estimate total costs but said the device itself costs $15,000.
>
> ___
>
> Online:
>
> FDA: http://www.fda.gov
>
> VisionCare: http://www.centrasight.com
>
>
>
>
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