Oral Treatment for Wet AMD Shows Promise

Alkahest Inc. has reported that AKST4290, an oral medication for treatment of wet AMD, was shown in trials to be safe, effective, and “extremely promising”. Speaking at the 2019 Retina World Congress, Michael Stewart, MD (Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville), reported that 83% of subjects’ eyes had improved acuity of a mean 7+ letters, and 21% gained [Read More]

Announcing “Lookout” AI App for Android

Google has created a new Android app to help the visually impaired. Similar to Microsoft’s Seeing AI for Apple devices, the application, named Lookout, uses artificial intelligence (AI) to identify objects, read text, scan barcodes, and identify currencies. It is available to download though only for Google’s Pixel devices in the U.S. at this time. It is not clear [Read More]

First Gene Therapy for AMD Performed

Researchers at the University of Oxford have carried out the world’s first gene therapy operation to tackle the root cause of age-related macular degeneration (AMD). An 80-year-old woman with AMD is the first of ten people to receive the treatment. The procedure was carried out at the John Radcliffe Hospital by Professor Robert MacLaren, Professor [Read More]

What is Artificial Intelligence and How Can It Help Me?

by Dan Roberts Artificial intelligence (AI) makes it possible for machines to learn from experience, adjust to new inputs, and perform human-like tasks. It provides us with human-like interactions with computers and helps us with difficult decision making. AI works by super-speed processing of large amounts of information (data), allowing the software to learn automatically [Read More]