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Jennifer Li, MD, details a talk she gave alongside Melissa Barnett, OD, FAAO, FSLS, FBCLA, at CRU 2025 in Napa, California.

CRU 2025: Neurotrophic keratitis and multidisciplinary approaches to enhance patient outcomes

Deb Ristvedt, DO, details a handful of presentations on glaucoma she gave during CRU 2025 in Napa, California.

CRU 2025: Interventional glaucoma as a proactive approach to glaucoma management

Articles

The decision to discontinue the trials comes shortly after the announcement that COAST missed its primary endpoint.

Opthea discontinues COAST and ShORe trials in wet AMD

Cecelia Koetting, OD, FAAO, DipABO, weighs in on patient assessments, staining pattern insights, and diagnostic tips for patients who may have dry eye disease.

CRU 2025: A closeup of diagnostic approaches and examination tips for DED and OSD

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Myopia- Management

The American Academy of Optometry (AAO) 2021 annual meeting, the profession’s largest meeting, is scheduled for November 3 to 6, at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center.

This in-person event will provide optometrists the long-awaited opportunity to reconnect with colleagues in a relaxed atmosphere in an historic city, and according to AAO President Timothy McMahon, OD, FAAO, it will truly be a walk on the “Freedom Trail.”

In-person attendance in Boston requires adherence to detailed COVID-19 safety protocols outlined by the AAO and the state of Massachusetts, the details of which are available on-line (https://academymeeting.org/). All attendees are required to complete a form attesting to compliance with COVID-19 safety protocols before registering for the meeting.

For those optometrists and related professionals who cannot travel at this time, a Best of Academy 2021 Boston virtual meeting is scheduled for December 3 to 5. This event will provide attendees with 20 hours of on-line continuing education.

McMahon, heralded the upcoming AAO meeting as a first of its kind as “we slowly and safely approach the new normal while gathering in this storied city, for this historic meeting, as we return to meeting together.”

The 2021 AAO annual meeting offers the opportunity to choose from among more than 300 hours of lectures and workshops, Section and Special Interest Group symposia, and hundreds of scientific paper and poster presentations.

In addition, up to 32 hours of continuing education credits can be earned.

The full schedule for the meeting is available at www.academymeeting.org/.

Here is a taste of what will be available during the paper sessions that are sprinkled throughout the conference.

The schedule kicks off with paper presentations on the Anterior Segment (9 to 10 am), Animal Myopia (1:30 to 2:30 pm), and Contrast Sensitivity and Color Vision (3 to 4:30 pm).

Second-day offerings include papers on Public Health (8:30 to 9:30 am), Demodex (8:30 to 9:15 am), Contact Lens Antimicrobials (10 to 11 am), Pediatric/Binocular Vision (1:30 to -3 pm), and Low Vision (1:30 to 3:30 pm).

The Thursday program also includes Hot Topics paper sessions on Glaucoma (7:30 to -8:30 am), Cornea (7:30 to 8:30 am), and Traumatic Brain Injury (7:30 to 8:30 am).

The schedule includes presentations on Novel Approaches in Posterior Segment and a keynote address delivered by Jennifer Sun (8 to 9:30 am), Optometric Education (8:30 to 9:30 am), Clinical Myopia (10 to 11:45 am), Glaucoma Super Session (1:30 to 3:30 pm), and Cool Topics in Contact Lens (4 to 5 pm).

The schedule closes the paper sessions with talks on Traumatic Brain Injury and a keynote address delivered by Jacob Brodsky (9:30 to 11 am).

Poster sessions are slated for Thursday, November 4 (poster presentations 4:30 to 6:30 pm) and Friday, November 5 (poster display 10 am to 3 pm; poster presentations 10 am to noon).

The Merton C. Flom Insight Leadership Program is designed to help optometrists build leadership skills and realize their full potential. Titled “Know Yourself: Foundations for Effective Leadership,” the program for AAO 2021 has been completely revamped and will be offered as a live introductory course at the conference.

The revamped program will provide additional content and encourage engagement with emerging leaders in optometry. This series will be available exclusively to fellows and candidates for fellowship.

The Flom Leadership Course Series, presented by Drs. Lindsay Sicks, Darin Paulson, and Carmen Barnhardt, begins on Wednesday, November 3 (1 to 4 pm) during the AAO.

Eight learning modules will focus on Principles of Effective Leadership I, Principles of Effective Leadership II, Embracing Diversity in Leadership, Effective Communication in Leadership, Leader’s Guide to Productive Meetings, Public Speaking for Leaders, Writing Skills for Leaders, and Mentorship: Present and Future Leaders.

Armed Forces Optometric Society & Academy Annual Meeting

This meeting, scheduled for Monday, November 1, and Tuesday, November 2

 features continuing education for optometrists, residents, and students in the Air Force, Army, Navy, Veterans Affairs, Public Health and Indian Health Services.

The meeting will include service-specific breakout sessions that enable optometrists to meet with their respective service specialty leaders and discuss current issues facing their service branch. Opportunities will be available to attend hands-on workshops and interact with fellow federal service optometrists and friends at events, including the 2021 Armed Forces Optometric Society Awards Ceremony.

These include the Academy Fellows Business Meeting Lunch New Fellows Reception (Wednesday, November 3, noon to 1 pm); New Fellows Reception (Thursday, November 4, 6 to 7:30 pm), Academy Awards and Lectures (Thursday, November 4, 7 to 9 pm), Prentice & Fry Lectures (Friday, November 5, 1:30 to 2:30 pm), and Fellows Banquet (Saturday, November 6, 8 to 10 pm).

This program is an opportunity for students to engage in advanced knowledge and technology through lectures, workshops, posters, and more. The program guides students in developing skills as an optometric or vision science professional. Participants must be OD student members of the AAO.

Residents will have the opportunity on Friday, November 5 (5 to 6:30 pm) network with practitioners from the US and abroad who want to hire residency-trained ODs in the near future.

Residents Day on Saturday, November 6 (8 am to 4:30 pm) is a forum at which residents can present their interesting case reports or the results of their research projects. This event includes paper presentations, luncheon, posters, and a reception.

In addition to the Freedom Trail, numerous historic sites, shopping venues, restaurants, and art galleries are available within walking distance of the conference center. The North End and Faneuil Hall are a stone’s throw away, as is the Seaport with access to boat tours. A complete list of local attractions is available on the AAO website.

Save the dates for the AAO 2022 in-person annual meeting scheduled for October 26 to 29, 2022, in San Diego.

American Academy of Optometry

The in-person event is scheduled for November 3 to 6 at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center, with a Best of Academy 2021 Boston virtual meeting scheduled for December 3 to 5.


American Academy of Optometry annual meeting to convene in Boston

Carolyn Majcher, OD, Associate Clinical Professor at the Northeastern State University Oklahoma College of Optometry discusses how ODs who incorporate multimodal imaging into their practices enjoy heightened efficiency and improved quality of care. 

 and I am joined today by Dr. Carolyn Majcher, associate clinical professor at the Northeastern State University Oklahoma College of Optometry. She is lecturing on 21st century retina care at the Vision Expo West conference and has done extensive research in retinal imaging and OCT angiography. Carolyn, thank you so much for talking with me today.

Hi Brooke, it is such a pleasure to be here and thank you for the invite. As you mentioned, I am an associate professor and the director of residency programs at the Oklahoma College of optometry. I have been here about 2 years and Tahlequah, Oklahoma. I graduated from Salus University, did a residency there and spent about 8 years in San Antonio teaching before I came to Oklahoma.

Wow, that is fantastic. And you are giving a talk at the conference, so what are some key points from your talk this year?

 Yeah, so I covered a little bit of management for major disease categories with regard to diabetic retinopathy, venous occlusion, central serous, but the real main focus was on multimodal imaging. Multimodal imaging incorporates wide field and ultra wide field fundus photography—that could be color, that could be fundus autofluorescence. It also covers some of my favorites like OCT and OCT angiography.
And so a lot of what I discussed in the lecture is how this multimodal imaging technology can help ODs diagnose disease earlier in order to get patients treatment exactly when they need it in order to preserve vision rather than trying to bring it back. OCT angiography is really important with regards to detecting early neovascularisation and diabetic retinopathy and even AMD and even central serous and other conditions, as well.

This sounds like a great lecture. What are some take home messages you have for ODS?

Incorporate multimodal imaging into your practice. It is going to make your life so much easier in terms of efficiency. It is also going to improve your quality of care because you are going to be more accurate in your staging of diabetic retinopathy and truly become confident as to whether AMD is nonexudative, or exudative, neovascular or non-neovascular. It is going to give you a lot of confidence and I think just improve the workflow in your clinic and allow you to provide the highest quality of care to your patients possible.

Well, thank you so much for speaking with me today. It was a pleasure.

Vision Expo West

21st century retina care with Dr. Majcher

Avellino Lab USA, Inc. has launched AvaGen, the first genetic test that determines risk for keratoconus and other corneal dystrophies.

Understanding genetic testing for hereditary disease

“The test is great for patients who know they have keratoconus to see if their children or other relatives have the disease,” says Stephanie Woo, OD, FAAO, FSLS, in practice in Las Vegas, Nevada, during the company’s press conference at Vision Expo West in Las Vegas.

AvaGen examines 75 keratoconus-related genes and more than 2,000 variants—along with ethnic variations because they affect disease prevalence—to devlop a keratoconus genetic risk score, according to the company. Test results show low, moderate or high risk for the disease. It also determines the presence of 70 gene variants for corneal dystrophies, including epitheliam basement membrane, granular and lattice, Avellino, Reis-Bucklers, Schnyder, and Theill-Behnke. Results show yes or no for the presence of corneal dystrophies.

Blog: A parent's perspective on genetic testing

AvaGen is easily administered in-office via cheek swab. Practitioners mail the sample to the company’s lab, and results arrive in about two weeks. Avellino provides comprehensive genetic counseling for practitioners and patients for added support.

Currently, AvaGen is private pay with an approximate cost of $300. A CPT code does not yet exist, and the company is evaulating reimbursement possibilities.

“This is a good test if you don’t have a good gut feeling about a patient,” says Woo.

Avellino launches genetic test for keratoconus

Autumn is in the air—although it doesn’t feel like it at Vision Expo West in Las Vegas—and that means pumpkin spice and application time for CooperVision’s Best Practices program. Michele Andrews, vice president of professional and government affairs, shares details on what’s new with this year’s program.

Podcast: Applications accepted for CooperVision's Best Practices 2022

 Hi, everyone, I'm Michele Andrews with CooperVision. I am here at Vision Expo West in Las Vegas and it is time for best practices 2022. This year we are launching our new program, actually our existing program. It is our seventh year with some new changes.


The biggest change for 2022 is that when you apply to be a best practice, you can apply in a category that you are really passionate about, whether that is community service, or innovation, or the patient experience, or team building. Pick one pick many. We just want to hear about you and what you are doing to take care of your patients and build a practice that is thriving. For more information, go to our website, and we look forward to reading your application and celebrating you in 2022.

CooperVision opens Best Practices 2022 application window

® Editorial Advisory Board members Jeffry Gerson, OD, FAAO; and Steven Ferrucci, OD, FAAO, chat about what’s new in the retina space while at Vision Expo West 2021 in Las Vegas.

Podcast: Retina pipeline as discussed by Gerson and Ferrucci

Gerson and Ferrucci talk retina pipeline

ODs can help detect visual field defects earlier with population screening, says Mohamed Abou Shousha, MD, FRCS, PhD. He is founder and CEO of Heru, which is launching its wearable field testing platform re:Vive at Vision Expo West 2021 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Podcast: How population screening detects early visual field defects

 There is a huge unmet need for the diagnosis and for the screening of diseases that affect the visual field, such as glaucoma, macular degeneration and a lot of diseases that actually affect more than 450 million patients worldwide.


A study that was published more than 10 years ago came out from Johns Hopkins University showed that more than 27% of the population has visual field defects that they don't know about. They were able to capture this using screening of the visual field. However, it is very difficult, as we know, with the status quo and with legacy devices to provide care for patients because the devices are bulky, they require a separate room, technicians, and it is a bottleneck.

Now the technology has changed. So, there is artificial intelligence (AI), there is cloud computing, there are wearable devices and those are game changers. So, optometrists now have the opportunity to serve as the first line by doing screening for visual field defects using this new technology to fill this gap.

Population screening needed for earlier detection of visual field defects

Heru founder and CEO Mohamed Abou Shousha, MD, FRCS, PhD, discusses the origins behind re:Vive. The company launched the wearable visual field testing platform at Vision Expo West 2021 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Podcast: Heru's visual field testing platform launches at Vision Expo West

 My name is Mohamed Abou Shousha. I am the CEO and founder of Heru. I am also an associate professor at Bascom Palmer Eye Institute.


We are very proud to say that we are launching our first product here at Vision Expo West—re:Vive. We have been working on this for the last 10 years and we realized at Bascom Palmer that visual field testing is a bottleneck. So, it is done using medical grade furniture, it requires a room, a technician. And it is very difficult to do for the patient. And it is the most hated test in ophthalmology and optometry, I would say.


So, what we did is we launched this new app that actually is in a wearable device. We converted the test from being delivered by a 50 pound device to 13.7 ounce wearable device. And we also improved the accuracy by using active pupil tracking. So you know how it is when patients sit on a visual field tests and just keep clicking and looking everywhere. Now we have a pupil tracking that is tracking the eye of the patient, and only delivering the test when the patient is looking where they should be looking. That leads to better accuracy for the test.


We also have an automatic workflow. So we are able to provide the patient with a screening test that takes only 30 seconds. And when there is a visual field effect, it moves the patient automatically to a full threshold test.


Moreover, the test is smart, and it talks to you. So it is a gamified experience and a smart experience it talks to the patient tells the patient what to do. We also ran a clinical trial, comparing the accuracy of hero to the standard of care. And this is in process we have great news to share very soon.

Heru launches re:Vive wearable visual field platform

Scott G. Hauswirth, OD, FAAO, discusses identifying and treating pain-related diseases that affect the eye

Podcast: How to identify and treat pain-related diseases

I am Scott Hauswirth and we are here at Vision Expo West in Las Vegas, Nevada. I am going to be talking about pain photophobia and how to help your patients that have this. 

Really, the class is about how to recognize neurosensory abnormalities, be it dry eye and other types of pain related diseases that affect the eyes. And really the first, the first place you want to start off with is recognizing that there are a lot of symptomatic cues your patients can give you, or tell you that will help you sort of keep this in your differential as you go through your examination with patients. 

Second piece of information is really how to do a very thorough examination because we do have to rule out a lot of other causes for ocular pain. 

And the third aspect of it is how to treat these patients. And, you know, by and large, we are doing a lot of the same things we do in dry eye. 

There are a lot of other regenerative types of therapies and collaboration that you can do with pain management specialists and other providers that will help you take care of these patients better. That will keep them in your chair.

How to recognize neurosensory abnormalities

Ken DauSchmidt, founder and CEO of Tear Restore, Inc., shares information about TearResore Mask, the first open-eye warm compress treatment.

Podcast: TearRestore CEO, Ken DauSchmidt, reviews new open-eye warm compress treatment

 Hello, my name is Ken DauSchmidt. I am the co-founder and CEO of TearRestore. We are here at Vision Expo West talking to thought leaders about everything new dry eye. We have got the first open open-eye warm compress available on the market today. It improves the efficacy of the treatment because the patient's blinking and naturally expressing the meibomian glands throughout. It also improves the compliance of the treatment because they can maintain their activity while they are doing their daily treatment. We have got a clinical study underway and we hope to share those results with you soon.

Open-eye warm compress helps with efficacy, compliance

Marc Bloomenstein, OD, FAAO, and Editorial Advisory Board member for 

 outlines what attendees can anticipate from the greatest anterior segment disease and medical management of contact lens complications course ever at 

Podcast: The greatest anterior segment course ever at Vision Expo West, with Dr. Bloomenstein

outlines what attendees can anticipate from the greatest anterior segment disease and medical management of contact lens complications course ever at 

 and I am joined today by Dr. Marc Bloomenstein, Optometry Times editorial advisory board member in Scottsdale, Arizona. He is lecturing on anterior segment disease and medical management of contact lens complications at Vision Expo West (VEW). Dr. Bloomenstein, thank you so much for talking with me today.

 Thanks, Brooke. I am excited to be here, virtually at least.

So, what are some key points from your talk?

I have to admit that the title of the talk is the greatest anterior segment lecture ever. And I am one of 4 panelists, myself, Dr. Paul Karpecki, Dr. Jack L. Schaeffer and Dr. Laura Periman. And I think the key kind of takeaway that I would love for people who are coming, or if they haven't come, they are thinking about coming, to leave with is that we all kind of have differing opinions about how to resolve common problems that we as optometrists see. I think the common thread within this talk is really is looking at, you know, anterior segment challenges, whether it be with contacts, without contacts, and then getting differing opinions on what is—not necessarily the best course of action—but what might be a course of action that you might want to be able to take away from that.

The nice thing about it, too, is that everybody kind of plays off of each other and having Dr. Periman there, who is a brilliant, brilliant ophthalmologist, and she is also quite the singer.

 Yeah! She drops few little diddies here a there, a little raps.

That sounds like a really fun course! What would you say is your take home message for ODs of this course, you kind of touched on it.

Well, to be honest with you, Brooke, it is the greatest course. Okay.

 A take home message, honestly, would be the practicality of it. To me, our take home messages is that anterior segment is almost kind of like you know, breathing. Every single patient has it. We have to manage it so that our patients get best quality of vision, whether it be somebody who's a pediatrics, or whether it be somebody who is in their teens or there with contacts or pre or post-surgery. The bottom line is, is that there are a lot of different scenarios which could affect the quality of the vision and we have so many new opportunities to look at each patient and say, "What can I do to help this patient get the best quality of vision?" I think the real the biggest take home messages is try to get people excited about the fact that we have new diagnostics, we have new treatments, and it reallyallows us to be able to manage our patients in a much different way. It is really cool. And also, you know, it is the greatest course ever.

Well, nobody should miss the greatest course at VEW this year. Thank you so much for speaking with me today. Dr. Bloomenstein. It was a pleasure.

Dr. Bloomenstein discusses the greatest anterior segment course ever at Vision Expo West

Lumenis launched its OptiLight intense pulsed light (IPL) device at Vision Expo West 2021 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The FDA granted the company authorization for OptiLight, which is designed to improve 

A multicenter, double-blinded, randomized controlled trial revealed that the Lumenis IPL system with Optimal Pulse Technology (OPT) significantly improved tear break-up time, meibum quality, and meibomian gland expressibility.

Related: Optimizing management of dry eye disease

“Unless we address the underlying inflammation, it’s difficult to meaningfully impact dry eye disease,” said Steven J. Dell, lead investigator in the clinical trial, in a statement.1 “OptiLight helps us to address the inflammation, and improves signs of dry eye disease due to MGD, positioning it as a valuable tool in our dry eye toolkit.”

In related news, private equity firm Baring Private Equity Asia and Lumenis have partnered to accelerate the investment in vision and aesthetics vertical markets following the sale of Lumenis Surgical for $1.07B.

Lumenis recently completed the sale of its surgical division to Boston Scientific Corporation, a global medical device manufacturer.

The company plans to increase its vision and aesthetic businesses through its research, development, and marketing efforts.

Related: How to implement IPL into an optometry practice

1. Britton G. Lumenis receives FDA approval for Its IPL device to manage dry eye disease and launches OptiLight. Lumenis news release. April 29, 2021. Accessed September 22, 2021. 

https://lumenis.com/medical/news/lumenis-receives-fda-approval-for-its-ipl-device-to-manage-dry-eye-disease-and-launches-optilight/

2. Lumenis and Baring Private Equity Asia to accelerate investment in aesthetics and vision verticals following the strategic sale of Lumenis Surgical for $1.07B. Lumenis news release. September 1, 2021. Accessed September 22, 2021. https://lumenis.com/medical/news/lumenis-and-baring-private-equity-asia-to-accelerate-investment-in-aesthetics-and-vision-verticals-following-the-strategic-sale-of-lumenis-surgical-for-1-07b/

The new intense pulsed light technology targets meibomian gland dysfunction

Lumenis introduces OptiLight at Vision Expo West

Hey everyone, I am Dr. Michael Chaglasian. We are here in Orlando, and I just finished my lecture on the glaucoma suspect, key tips for optimal management. We focused on several key things for ODs to take home to their practices for their glaucoma patients. One of the things that I like to focus on is always looking at risk factors for your glaucoma suspects and patients with ocular hypertension.

Risk factors are the key things that make a decision on whether or not someone needs to be treated or to be observed. And things that go into the risk factors, of course, are things like the pachymetry, the family history, all the typical risk factors that people know about from glaucoma over time. But it is integrating them into the diagnostic side of things where the whole picture comes together. 

So, look at your risk factors, use your optical coherence tomography (OCT), use your visual fields, and put the whole picture together. With OCTs, it is always key to know that you have a good quality OCT scan. Do not misinterpret artifact or bad scans, and look at your report and drill down to the areas that really show glaucoma change and match it up to the visual field.

You have been doing perimetry for years, but you really want to match up the OCT for the visual field and make a clinical correlation. And then that cycles back to the risk factors. What is the age of your patient? What is the background? What is the family history?

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