World Glaucoma Week——The world is bright, save your sight

Glaucoma is a leading cause of blindness worldwide. The pathophysiology of glaucoma is complex and not completely understood. Intraocular pressure (IOP) plays a role for many patients. The glaucomas are a group of progressive optic neuropathies characterized by degeneration of retinal ganglion cells and resulting changes in the optic nerve head. Loss of ganglion cells is related to the level of intraocular pressure, but other factors may also play a role. Reduction of intraocular pressure is the only proven method to treat the disease. Although treatment is usually initiated with ocular hypotensive drops, laser trabeculoplasty and surgery may also be used to slow disease progression. Because glaucoma may be asymptomatic until a relatively late stage, diagnosis is frequently delayed. A general understanding of the disease pathophysiology, diagnosis, and treatment may assist primary care physicians in referring high-risk patients for comprehensive ophthalmologic examination and in more actively participating in the care of patients affected by this condition.

Central nervous system neurons have their cell bodies in the inner retina and axons in the optic nerve. Degeneration of these nerves results in cupping, a characteristic appearance of the optic disc and visual loss. The biological basis of glaucoma is poorly understood and the factors contributing to its progression have not been fully characterized.

Glaucoma affects more than 70 million people worldwide with approximately 10% being bilaterally blind, making it the leading cause of irreversible blindness in the world. Glaucoma can remain asymptomatic until it is severe, resulting in a high likelihood that the number of affected individuals is much higher than the number known to have it. Population-level surveys suggest that only 10% to 50% of people with glaucoma are aware they have it. Glaucomas can be classified into 2 broad categories: open-angle glaucoma and angle-closure glaucoma. In the United States, more than 80% of cases are open-angle glaucoma; however, angle-closure glaucoma is responsible for a disproportionate number of patients with severe vision loss. Both open-angle and angle-closure glaucoma can be primary diseases. Secondary glaucoma can result from trauma, certain medications such as corticosteroids, inflammation, tumor, or conditions such as pigment dispersion or pseudo-exfoliation.

Medicilon’s pre-clinical ophthalmology platform has a special intra-ocular drug delivery technology and is equipped with an advanced ophthalmic surgical microscope. In addition to conventional eye drops and ointment administration, it can also be used to treat rabbits, dogs, small pigs and non- Animal species such as human primates achieve unique fine drug delivery.

Special delivery methods include：

?Subretinal Injection under microscope

?Suprachoroidal Injection

?Intravitreal injection

The key of preclinical evaluation of ophthalmic drugs lies in the fine operation and detection of the eyes of experimental animals with appropriate instruments. With years of rich practical experience and advanced equipment. Medicion ophthalmology research team has solved various complicated problems of ophthalmic research and provided stable and high-quality research services for customers.

SPECTRALIS? HRA + OCT is an ophthalmic imaging platform with the latest scalable module design. We can use this system to help clients complete fundus fluorescein angiography and optical coherence tomography.

The specific test items that the system can complete are as follows:

?IR for common fundus imaging

?RF for common fundus imaging

?Fluorescein Angiography(FA)

?Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT)

The system is applied to detect ophthalmic electrophysiological items, like ERG, VEP, EOG, etc.

Animal models of eye diseases:

? Conjunctival tissue proliferation and NV

? Diabetic retinopathy (DR)

? Choroidal neovascularization (CNV) and subretinal fibrosis

? Retinal neovascularizationX

? Erophthalmia

? Corneal neovascularization

? Acute ocular inflammation model

?

References:

[1] Robert N Weinreb , et al.?The pathophysiology and treatment of glaucoma: a review. JAMA. 2014 May 14;311(18):1901-11. doi: 10.1001/jama.2014.3192.

[2] Sonali B Bhanvadia, et al. Assessing Usability of Smartwatch Digital Health Devices for Home Blood Pressure Monitoring among Glaucoma Patients. Informatics (MDPI). 2022 Dec;9(4):79. doi: 10.3390/informatics9040079. Epub 2022 Oct 6.