The best way to prevent glaucoma, a common cause of blindness, is to have a regular eye exam. During a comprehensive eye exam, your optometrist will check the intraocular pressure (IOP) of your eyes, as having high intraocular pressure can lead to damage to your optic nerve and can eventually lead to blindness. What if there was a way to improve the accuracy of checking eye press by monitoring our eyes on a more frequent basis?

The London Eye Hospital has developed a new contact lens, titled Triggerfish, which when worn will monitor eye pressure over a 24-hour period, which they hope will improve detection and allow earlier treatment. When worn the Triggerfish sensor is able to create and store a detailed graph, showing how the patient’s IOP has been fluctuating over a 24-hour period, which can supply doctors with the data that they need to diagnose whether the patient has glaucoma with much greater accuracy after the lens is removed and analyzed.

Have you even taken your vision for granted?

For millions living in developing countries an eye exams and contacts or glasses are considered a luxury, which is why researchers at EyeNetra, a MIT spinoff company, are developing a device which in essence turns everyday cell phones into a mobile eye exam machine.

“Our goal, really, is to empower millions and millions around the world by bringing eye care to people’s homes in a way that was never possible before,” says David Schafran of EyeNetra.

To that end, they’ve developed a $2 scope which can be clipped onto a smart phone. The patient looks through the eyepiece and follows the colored lines which appear on the screen. A software application (or app) is installed on the phone which enables the phone to translate the patient’s responses into a measurement of “refractive error,” which optometrists can use to create a pair of glasses.

Healthy vision is important to both employees and their employers. The American Optometric Association reports that visual discomfort, eye strain and other eye related injuries cost billions in lost productivity each year. More importantly, approximately 90% of vision injurys which occur on the job could have been prevented if safety steps were exercised, such as simply wearing protective eyewear proper to the task. “Healthy vision is critical to successfully completing job-related tasks,” says James Sheedy, O.D. Ph.D., Director of the Vision Ergonomics Laboratory at the College of Optometry at Pacific University and AOA’s occupational vision specialist.

Glaucoma has been named the “silent thief of sight” due to the way it gradually damages sight, progressing to complete blindness if left untreated.

Generally but not always, Glaucoma is associated with increased pressure of fluid within the eye. If the intraocular pressure (IOP) is high one is said to have “ocular hypertension”. When low intraocular pressure is detected, the term “low tension glaucoma” may be used. A high intraocular pressure is a significant risk factor for developing glaucoma, however not every case of high intraocular pressure will develop into glaucoma.

The typical New Year’s resolution goes something like this “I hereby resolve to lose “X” number of pounds by the end of the year”. The resolution is then promptly set aside as everyone adjourns to the kitchen for dessert. This year, choose something that is easy and that could have a profound impact on your quality of life: Resolve to see an optometrist for a comprehensive vision exam!

November is the American Optometric Association’s (AOA) National Diabetes Month and if it’s been a while since you’ve had a comprehensive eye exam, get yourself to a qualified optometrist and get a checkup!

What exactly goes into a comprehensive eye exam? Good question!

What are your plans for this coming year and what do you plan to do differently? Will you exercise more, eat healthier, or make an effort to see the doctor as often as you should? Making time in our busy schedules to implement those well-intentioned resolutions often proves quite challenging. But don’t underestimate the importance of doctor visits – and more specifically, visits to your Optometrist.

A quick trip to your optometrist may not only be sight-saving but potentially life-saving. Optometrists can evaluate the health of your eyes and clarity of vision and they can also detect chronic and systemic diseases such as glaucoma, diabetes and even hypertension.