At the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) annual meeting 2008, which concluded last week in Atlanta, optical coherence tomography (OCT) was well represented both in the conference program (with several sessions dedicated to the topic and several more touching on it) and in the exhibit hall. Bioptigen, Carl Zeiss Meditec, Heidelberg, OPKO, Optopol, Optovue, and Topcon all exhibited -- most with large booths. Canon joined the OCT crowd too, demonstrating the use of its technology with Optopol's OCT system, so Optopol got double the exposure with Canon’s exhibit. Nidek wasn’t talking about its rumored OCT offering, but I’m guessing that company will release a system within a year. Of course the exhibitors emphasized eye care, but there was talk among some of OCT for other disciplines, including non-biomedical applications such as manufacturing.
At the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) annual meeting 2008, which concluded last week in Atlanta, optical coherence tomography (OCT) was well represented both in the conference program (with several sessions dedicated to the topic and several more touching on it) and in the exhibit hall. Bioptigen, Carl Zeiss Meditec, Heidelberg, OPKO, Optopol, Optovue, and Topcon all exhibited -- most with large booths. Canon joined the OCT crowd too, demonstrating the use of its technology with Optopol's OCT system, so Optopol got double the exposure with Canon’s exhibit. Nidek wasn’t talking about its rumored OCT offering, but I’m guessing that company will release a system within a year. Of course the exhibitors emphasized eye care, but there was talk among some of OCT for other disciplines, including non-biomedical applications such as manufacturing.
A 2-1/2 hour OCT session that required additional payment drew an audience of more than 200. When the moderator asked how many attendees currently have OCT systems, most raised their hands—and about 25% indicated they own spectral domain (Fourier domain) OCT systems. Not surprisingly, most of the attendees are focused on retinal applications, but about 15% or so use OCT for corneal work.
An overview of OCT emphasized the speed difference between the older time domain systems and the new breed of spectral/Fourier domain units -- but it was noted that the real bottleneck these days for OCT is computer processing time. That’s why last week’s announcement by Texas Instruments is so exciting; TI’s new embedded processors specifically target medical imaging.
Friday, November 21, 2008
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Barraquer Award presented during excimer laser 25th anniversary
It’s been 25 years since the first clinical application of the excimer laser to correct astigmatism, and the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) is marking the milestone today with a special “25th Anniversary of the Excimer Laser” symposium during its 2008 annual meeting in Atlanta (November 7-12).
It’s been 25 years since the first clinical application of the excimer laser to correct astigmatism, and the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) is marking the milestone today with a special “25th Anniversary of the Excimer Laser” symposium during its 2008 annual meeting in Atlanta (November 7-12).
The symposium, actually a joint meeting of the AAO’s International Society of Refractive Surgery (ISRS/AAO) and the European Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons (ESCRS), will feature Steven Trokel MD, who patented the excimer laser for vision correction in 1983, and other instrumental figures describing progression of the hardware, algorithms, and procedures—from the beginning through the future.
The symposium will conclude with the Barraquer Lecture, “Corneal surgery is refractive surgery,” given by the 2007 winner of the annual Barraquer Award Medal, Roger F Steinert MD -- and then presentation of the 2008 medal. The award, named for Jose Ignacio Barraquer (1916-1998), the inventor of refractive keratoplasty in 1949.
The 2008 winner is Jorge L. Alió, MD, PhD, Profesor and Chairman of Ophthalmology at Miguel Hernández University (Alicante, Spain).
More information
American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) annual meeting 2008
It’s been 25 years since the first clinical application of the excimer laser to correct astigmatism, and the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) is marking the milestone today with a special “25th Anniversary of the Excimer Laser” symposium during its 2008 annual meeting in Atlanta (November 7-12).
The symposium, actually a joint meeting of the AAO’s International Society of Refractive Surgery (ISRS/AAO) and the European Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons (ESCRS), will feature Steven Trokel MD, who patented the excimer laser for vision correction in 1983, and other instrumental figures describing progression of the hardware, algorithms, and procedures—from the beginning through the future.
The symposium will conclude with the Barraquer Lecture, “Corneal surgery is refractive surgery,” given by the 2007 winner of the annual Barraquer Award Medal, Roger F Steinert MD -- and then presentation of the 2008 medal. The award, named for Jose Ignacio Barraquer (1916-1998), the inventor of refractive keratoplasty in 1949.
The 2008 winner is Jorge L. Alió, MD, PhD, Profesor and Chairman of Ophthalmology at Miguel Hernández University (Alicante, Spain).
More information
American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) annual meeting 2008
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Spectroscopy has growth in hand
Today’s announcement by Ahura Scientific corroborates comments that Andrew Whitley, a VP at Horiba Jobin-Yvon made earlier this week during SPIE’s Spectroscopy Technology + Applications conference. Presenting a breakdown of market share, Whitley noted that Ahura has acquired 10% share since it launched its first product just three years ago. Such growth, said Whitley, is all because of the increased need for portable and handheld spectrometers. That market segment is 25% at the moment, but growing 23% CAGR, he explained.
Today’s announcement by Ahura Scientific corroborates comments that Andrew Whitley, a VP at Horiba Jobin-Yvon made earlier this week during SPIE’s Spectroscopy Technology + Applications conference. Presenting a breakdown of market share, Whitley noted that Ahura has acquired 10% share since it launched its first product just three years ago. This growth, said Whitley, is all because of the increased need for portable and handheld spectrometers--a market segment that is 25% at the moment, but growing 23% CAGR.
Whitley also discussed the “huge potential for Raman” spectroscopy in the biomedical market—though he said the realization of that potential is probably still 15 to 20 years off.
William Yang, CEO of BaySpec, which also made an interesting announcement this week concerning portable spectroscopy, defined “portable” instrumentation as units that you can carry with two hands, and “handheld” devices as those that require only one hand for transport.
More information:
SPIE’s Spectroscopy Technology + Applications
Horiba Jobin-Yvon spectroscopy
Today’s announcement by Ahura Scientific corroborates comments that Andrew Whitley, a VP at Horiba Jobin-Yvon made earlier this week during SPIE’s Spectroscopy Technology + Applications conference. Presenting a breakdown of market share, Whitley noted that Ahura has acquired 10% share since it launched its first product just three years ago. This growth, said Whitley, is all because of the increased need for portable and handheld spectrometers--a market segment that is 25% at the moment, but growing 23% CAGR.
Whitley also discussed the “huge potential for Raman” spectroscopy in the biomedical market—though he said the realization of that potential is probably still 15 to 20 years off.
William Yang, CEO of BaySpec, which also made an interesting announcement this week concerning portable spectroscopy, defined “portable” instrumentation as units that you can carry with two hands, and “handheld” devices as those that require only one hand for transport.
More information:
SPIE’s Spectroscopy Technology + Applications
Horiba Jobin-Yvon spectroscopy
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