Artificial Retina Implanted in Humans

by Tom Hoglund Information Officer, Foundation Fighting Blindness For the first time ever, researchers from a company called Optobionics surgically implanted an artificial retina into three patients who are blind from retinitis pigmentosa. These highly-experimental prosthetic devices, made of silicon computer chips, are intended to restore ambulatory vision, thereby giving people the freedom to walk [Read More]

Foundation Researchers Restore Vision in Canine Model of Childhood Blindness

by Tom Hoglund In one of the single most important advances in the history of retinal degeneration research, a group of Foundation Fighting Blindness-supported scientists used gene therapy to restore vision in a canine model of severe childhood blindness, known clinically as Leber congenital amaurosis (LCA). This finding, published in the May issue of Nature [Read More]

Visually Impaired, Not Blind

People with age-related macular degeneration are pleased and relieved to see the word “blind” on its way out as a description of their visual condition. The word “blind” is becoming increasingly less associated with age-related macular degeneration (AMD), thanks in part to awareness efforts by MD Support and the conscientiousness of other leading organizations around [Read More]

Phi-Motion Angiography and Micro-Laser Treatment

by Dan Roberts December 1998 The Glaser Murphy Retina Treatment Center in Chevy Chase, Maryland, announced on December 9, 1998, the development of a new treatment called Phi-Motion Angiography that can improve the vision of people who have the wet form of Macular Degeneration. According to Drs. Bert Glaser, Robert Murphy and Robert Flower, the [Read More]