SynergEyes, Inc. has launched its next generation hybrid contact lens design for keratoconus, ClearKone. The ClearKone patent-pending design is optimized to vault the predominant irregularities of the keratoconic cornea, thus effectively restoring vision to a vast majority of patients, without compromising comfort or eye health, according to the company.
     SynergEyes reports that the key features of ClearKone include the patent pending vault design and the reverse geometry landing system. The lens is designed to vault over the vast majority of ectasias without bearing to ensure corneal surface integrity. The excellent centration and stability of the hybrid platform keeps the optics centered over the visual axis, regardless of the location of the cone, to successfully decrease aberrations, resulting in superior visual acuity through the reduction of coma.
     "SynergEyes recognized the need to develop a hybrid contact lens design that could fit a much broader spectrum of keratoconus patients, including oval cones, highly advanced central cones, decentered cones and, depending on the specifics of the case, globus keratoconus and pellucid marginal degeneration," says Kellie Kaseburg, Vice President of Global Marketing for SynergEyes. "The ClearKone lens does just that and will allow many more keratoconus patients to experience the benefits of hybrid technology."
     ClearKone is currently available in limited release in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico. SynergEyes is planning to do a controlled launch of the lens starting in September 2009. For more information, visit www.synergeyes.com.

CIBA Vision is celebrating the one-year anniversary of the Academy for Eyecare Excellence (AECE), a comprehensive global professional education platform to enable eye care practitioners (ECPs) to deliver the highest standard of patient care. Since its launch, the AECE has expanded to 20 countries around the world, with more than 2500 ECPs participating in AECE programs in the United States during the past 12 months.
     The AECE will continue to grow over the next 12 months by adding programs in Japan, Canada, Brazil, Spain, Australia, New Zealand and China, as well as by launching the first education platform for ECPs accessible by smart phones at the global conference of the British Contact Lens Association.
     "Our goal is to be the preferred partner for ECPs by providing innovative professional education programs and practice development tools which help our customers enhance their clinical skills, while running a successful business," said Richard E. Weisbarth, OD, FAAO and Global Head, Professional Development and Partnerships for CIBA Vision. "Giving practitioners the choice of participating in those programs in a classroom setting, from their desktop or laptop, and now from their smart phones, is an effective way of helping them improve their knowledge."
     The AECE curriculum and programs can be accessed in two different ways: by visiting www.cibavisionacademy.com or by visiting the AECE website from your web-enabled mobile phone. A few select modules from the web platform are now available via mobile phone. 

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During Healthy Vision Month this May, the National Eye Institute (NEI), part of the National Institutes of Health, unveiled three online resources for the public to get an inside look at the research process and its impact on public health.
     Eye on NEI, an online newsmagazine at www.nei.nih.gov/EYEonNEI, features in-depth stories, interviews with researchers, vision science images, and answers to eye health questions. The first biweekly edition includes a profile of Erik Weihenmayer, the only blind man to reach the summit of Mount Everest, who recounts his experiences with testing a breakthrough vision device known as BrainPort.
     An interactive multimedia timeline, www.nei.nih.gov/lca/nei_timeline, details the research path toward gene therapy treatment for Leber congenital amaurosis (LCA), a blinding genetic condition that affects the eye's retinal tissue.
     In vodcast and podcast interviews for the new Healthy Eyes web page, www.nei.nih.gov/healthyeyes, NEI's Dr. Janine Austin Clayton explains that nearsightedness, farsightedness, astigmatism, and presbyopia are common vision problems that are easily corrected once diagnosed. Visitors can also use the web page to send free e-cards to encourage family and friends to get their vision checked.

Bausch & Lomb (B&L) has named Colum Honan as General Manager, B&L Ireland, with responsibility for its Waterford plant which manufactures contact lenses and other eye health products.
     Mr. Honan joined B&L in Waterford in 1988 as a Process Engineer. In 1995, he was appointed Process Engineering Manager, a role in which he facilitated the introduction of a number of new products and implemented a range of cost-improvement measures. Three years later, Honan moved to Rochester, N.Y., where he successfully managed the transfer of the PureVision lens from the research and development stage to manufacturing. In 1999, he was given responsibility as site leader for the industrialization of a new drug application which is now marketed as Retisert. 

Alcon marked the commencement of construction of its first pharmaceutical manufacturing plant in the Asian region with a groundbreaking ceremony in Singapore's Tuas Biomedical Park. The new 330,000 square foot plant is expected to be completed in 2012 and will create 150 new jobs.
The new plant will primarily manufacture pharmaceutical products for Asian markets. The location and capacity expansion will allow Alcon to more effectively and efficiently meet the eye care needs of patients and eye care professionals across Asia with treatments for glaucoma, eye infections, eye inflammation and dry eyes.

Like dry eye disease 15 years ago, blepharitis today is a poorly defined condition about which there is considerable misunderstanding. For a variety of reasons, there is little good data on either the prevalence of blepharitis or how eye care practitioners currently treat it. The work reported herein consists of two recent studies: a telephone survey of a representative sample of the adult U.S. population (n = 5,000) whose purpose was to discover the frequency of common ocular surface symptoms associated with blepharitis; and a study that queried a selected group of ophthalmologists (n = 120) and a similarly selected group of optometrists (n = 84) about the frequency of blepharitis in their practices, the existence comorbid conditions, and their management strategies.
     This data suggests that blepharitis symptoms are very common in the U.S. population, with younger individuals reporting more, and more frequent, symptoms than older people, contrary to clinical dogma. Ophthalmologists and optometrists report that blepharitis is commonly seen in clinical practice in 37% and 47% of their patients, respectively, and it is widely agreed that meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD) is the most common cause of evaporative dry eye disease. In addition, management paradigms are shifting away from more traditional management with antibiotic ointment and warm compress therapy to prescription therapy for anterior and posterior blepharitis.
Lemp MA, Nichols KK. Blepharitis in the United States 2009: a survey-based perspective on prevalence and treatment. Ocul Surf 2009;7:S1-S14.  

As noted from the published evidence found in this week's abstract, blepharitis is a very common ophthalmic clinical condition. Interestingly, the study found that younger individuals are more prone to the symptoms of blepharitis than older individuals. While the study did not address the role of contact lenses in meibomian gland disease, we know that younger individuals are more likely to wear contact lenses than older individuals. Thus, it is critical that we make sure to treat any underlying lid condition in order to optimize comfort in our contact lens wearing patients.
Jason J. Nichols, OD, MPH, PhD, FAAO

This month at www.siliconehydrogels.org: the relationship between wettability and comfort; corneal ecstasia vs. corneal warpage; best lenses for aging eyes; and the effect of contact lens materials on physiology.