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Retinal prosthetics: science fiction or a vision for the future?

“Is it a fact – or have I dreamt it – that, by means of electricity, the world of matter has become a great nerve, vibrating thousands of miles in a breathless point of time?” – Nathaniel Hawthorne, The House...

Post-Brexit deal welcomed but leaves future relationship with EU far from settled

Rod McNeil breaks down the impact of the Brexit deal on healthcare in the UK, including medicines regulation, research funding, sharing of information and the ability to work abroad. A disorderly no-deal exit from the European Union (EU) was averted...

Do patient demographics influence AMD clinic attendance during COVID-19 lockdown?

The authors assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on adherence to scheduled clinic appointments among age-related macular degeneration patients in a clinic in North Wales. The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly affected the population, affecting economic and social wellbeing, whilst...

Gene therapy for inherited retinal disease: the Manchester Ocular Gene Therapy Group MDT service

The authors describe the process set up in Manchester for the optimum delivery and assessment of a new gene therapy treatment for patients with RPE65 IRD. Inherited retinal dystrophies (IRDs) are the second commonest cause of severe visual impairment in...

Working smarter not harder: How to transform eyecare delivery in the United Kingdom (part 2)

Are we doing enough to meet the current demands on ophthalmic services? In part two of a two-part series (see Part 1 here), Rosalind Harrison explains how efficiency can be improved by setting up eye services in community hubs. The...

Lost in translation

The article that follows is a collection of reflections and observations by Peter (British) and Nathan (Singaporean) living and working in each other’s countries. Peter Cackett “Best thing about this place is it’s not still full of pompous ex-colonials who...

Stem cell transplantation and pterygium surgery

Pterygium is a benign, fibrovascular overgrowth of bulbar conjunctiva extending onto the cornea and has been associated with ultraviolet (UV) light exposure. The prevalence of pterygium worldwide varies between geographical zones but has been reported to range between three and...

Corneal transplantation in the United Kingdom: are we blind to the challenges that still exist after the Organ Donation Bill?

Corneal transplantation (CT) is a significant treatment option for a huge number of patients in the United Kingdom (UK) [1]. For an individual, CT results in a substantial improvement in quality of life. Penetrating keratoplasty with full thickness grafting has...

Blame the lens – not its position – in refractive surprise

Aetiology of postoperative refractive surprise Weber coined the term “wrong eye, wrong intraocular lens, wrong patient” in 2008 as an aide memoir of major factors believed to underlie refractive surprise – defined as a significant unintended difference between dioptric refraction...

Uveal melanoma

Uveal melanoma is the most common primary intraocular tumour. However, they are still rare, with an incidence of 2-8 per million [1]. The presence of a choroidal naevus is a risk factor for uveal melanoma [1]. Patients with choroidal lesions...

Part 2: the Arclight Device: frugal imaging for eyecare

In this three-part series (Click here for Part 1 and here for Part 3) Andrew Blaikie and his team explore the role and application of the Arclight Device in Imaging of the Eye. There are many different types of ophthalmic...

Planes, trams, and auditoriums: Beware predatory conferencing

Predatory open-access journals and predatory conferences are considered the two main areas of predatory infiltration in academic medicine that are of growing concern [1–7]. Unsolicited publishing requests from potentially predatory publishers occur frequently among faculty in ophthalmology [8]. Predatory conferencing...