EyeWorld is the official news magazine of the American Society of Cataract & Refractive Surgery.
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EW MEETING REPORTER 66 Reporting from the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) 2014 annual meeting, Chicago OIS@AAO held prior to AAO 2014 Prior to the start of the 2014 American Academy of Ophthalmol- ogy (AAO) annual meeting, the Ophthalmology Innovation Summit (OIS@AAO) took place, offering highlights from industry in new technologies. Emmett T. Cunningham Jr., MD, PhD, San Francisco, opened the meeting. About 750 people from 32 states and 22 countries attended, he said. Dr. Cunningham spoke about import- ant drug and device activity and advancements, as well as funding in the ophthalmology field. Editors' note: Dr. Cunningham is founder and chairman of OIS. Alcon and Google partnership explored in session The recent partnership of Alcon (Fort Worth, Texas) and Google (Mountain View, Calif.) is an in- teresting topic for the ophthalmic world. Panelists Laurent Attias, head of global commercial strategy at Alcon; Brian P. Otis, PhD, founder of the smart contact lens project with Google X; and Franck Leveiller, PhD, head of R&D for vision care at Alcon, were on hand at OIS@AAO to discuss the topic in depth. When the smart contact lens project started, there were a lot of technological risks faced, Dr. Otis said. This particular project is a good example of encouraging entrepre- neurship, he said. It is important to take risks, but it is also important to be responsible with available re- sources. He advised to try hard, but if something is going to fail, make sure it does so quickly. The smart contact lens project has been going strong for 3 years now. Within Alcon, Mr. Attias said that this type of product and collab- oration has a lot of interest because of the unmet need. On the technical side, Dr. Leveiller said he worries about sev- eral factors that must be addressed. Because it is a medical device that is intrusive in the ocular surface, total biocompatibility is needed. It is also going to be important to consider the variability from patient to patient because of individual conditions. Editors' note: Industry speakers at OIS@AAO have financial interests related to their companies. Expert calls for innovative ideas in space Dorit B. Donoviel, PhD, deputy chief scientist and industry forum lead at the National Space Biomedical Research Institute (NSBRI), called on OIS@AAO attendees to develop in- novative solutions for vision testing in space in the talk "Houston, We Have A Problem: Visual Disorders In Space and How Ophthalmology Can Help." "If we want to explore space, we have to consider an environ- ment that's very hostile to the human body," Dr. Donoviel said. Many astronauts experience visual and ocular health disorders during long-duration spaceflight, and in order to understand these disorders, the NSBRI needs "out of this world" diagnostic capabilities, she said. The NSBRI hopes to partner with ophthalmologists through its "Vision for Mars" program to develop non-invasive vision and ocular health tests for astronauts during spaceflight—an opportunity for ophthalmologists to be truly innovative, Dr. Donoviel said. The program will provide at least 3 grants to small U.S.-based companies. For more information on the program and funding, visit nsbriforum.org. Editors' note: Dr. Donoviel has no financial interests related to her comments. Multiple reasons exist for choosing small aperture inlay Damien Gatinel, MD, PhD, Paris, offered reasons to choose a small aperture inlay in his presentation "Small Aperture Inlays are the Least Compromising for Expanding Depth of Focus" at Refractive Surgery 2014: Mission 20/20 Subspecialty Day. These reasons include uninter- rupted range of vision, maintained stereopsis, maintained quality of vision, high patient satisfaction, and minimal compromise. These inlays Reporting from the American Academy of View it now: AAO 2014 ... EWrePlay.org Jennifer Loh, MD, Fort Lauderdale, Fla., explains the importance of extracapsular cataract surgical techniques for young surgeons. November 2014 Supported by