Bill Harvey: To-ing and fro-ing across the pond

It is always worth keeping an eye on optometric developments in the US, as what is in vogue there often becomes popular over here soon afterwards. This was the case with digital retinal photography and then with OCT. I first became aware of the use of amniotic membranes in the treatment of a wide range of ocular surfaces diseases at a US conference last year.

In this week’s issue we publish an introduction to the technique which many US optometrists are finding increasingly useful and is likely to become an important option for UK practitioners in the coming years.

It is always enjoyable trying to predict future trends. Last year (Optician 20.03.2015) we published an article co-written by professors Ron Douglas and Russell Foster. Foster had discovered that some ganglion cells in the retina act as photoreceptors. With a peak sensitivity to longer wavelength blue visible light, these cells stimulate the melatonin-controlled diurnal metabolic rhythm which has developed to ensure the body is in synchrony with the environmental daily cycle.