Eye care technicians constantly innovate to make eye care more affordable, accessible, and convenient to improve patients’ health outcomes. New and innovative eye care technology is on course to redefine how patients access treatment while lowering the treatment burden.
Advancements in medical care often entail new procedures, therapies, treatments, and medication that can overwhelm the patients. Recent breakthroughs in eye care technology promise exceptional results without overburdening patients and physicians.
Robot-assisted Microsurgery
Robotic eye surgery gives eye surgeons greater control, precision, and flexibility when performing complex eye surgeries. These procedures are minimally invasive, leading to less pain, fewer complications, quick recovery, and shorter hospital stays. Robotic eye surgery is particularly effective because it leads to minimal scarring of the eye tissue.
Remote Monitoring
Visiting an eye doctor every quarter isn’t the best course of treatment for conditions such as glaucoma. Glaucoma is a leading cause of blindness because it leads to elevated intraocular pressure. Since the intraocular pressure varies daily, it takes much more than a few measurements a year to preserve a patient’s sight.
Advancements in eye care technology allow service providers to measure intra-ocular pressure continuously using soft contact lenses. These lenses relay the data through telemetry to a study center. The centers use AI technology to study and analyze the data to uncover trends and patterns that eye care professionals can use to improve health outcomes.
Sustained-release Medications
Poor patient compliance practices, including limited manual dexterity, and forgetfulness, are leading causes of lowered health outcomes in glaucoma treatment. Sustained-release medication eliminates obstacles associated with a treatment routine reliant on the daily use of eye drops. Self-sustained therapies use an implant that releases glaucoma medication over 4 to 6 months. It eliminates the patient’s treatment burden while ensuring compliance.
Gene Therapy
Gene therapy lowers the treatment burden when dealing with retinal vascular degenerations such as macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy. These leading blindness in adults require ongoing monthly injections with a Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Inhibitor (Anti-VEGF) molecule. Gene therapy enables the retina to make its own Anti-VEGF making the treatment convenient, less invasive, and cost-effective.
Brain Implants
Brain implants prove effective in restoring sight to the blind by bypassing the eye and substituting technology. The implants provide the visual cortex with sufficient input, allowing the patient to interpret basic visual information to give them basic vision.
Other amazing developments in eye care technology include:
- Artificial retinas to natural eye sensors in patients affected by diabetes and macular degeneration.
- Optic nerve regeneration addresses eye injuries, untreated glaucoma, and inherited conditions.
- Self-administered glaucoma tests and smartphone retinal imaging for people with limited mobility or access to medical care. These tests reduce the number of hospital visits necessary to preserve eyesight.
- AI-assisted screening for diabetic retinopathy is an FDA-approved procedure that harnesses the power of AI-based systems. Eye care personnel uses these systems to identify patterns that identify potential eye problems for timely intervention.
Allentown Optical Uses the Latest Optical Lab Technology
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