Current Events

Here are some recent happenings at our offices as well as in the world of vision care we thought you might be interested in.

$1400 off on LASIK bilateral procedure thru Feb. 21st.
FREE Financing also available.
Contact us for more information.

24/7 convenient contact lens ordering by simply calling 812-518-1106

FREE LASIK Seminar on Monday, Feb. 20

If you have always wanted LASIK but have been told you weren't a cantidate because you have astigmatism then we have great news! Dr. Andrew Tharp of the Vision Care Center is the first & only surgeon in the Tri-State to have the Advanced Control Eyetracking that is ideally suited to correct Astigmatism with LASIK. To learn more about LASIK and the advanced technology of the ACE tracker (Advanced Control Eyetracking), you can attend Dr. Tharp’s free monthly seminars.

JOIN DR. THARP AT HIS FREE SEMINAR AND YOU COULD WIN A FREE LASIK PROCEDURE JUST FOR ATTENDING.

The next seminar is scheduled for Monday, February 20, 6:00 pm at The Vision Care Center’s Gateway location in Newburgh. Refreshments served plus one lucky attendee could win a free LASIK procedure plus find out how you can get 24 months free financing. For more information and to reserve your seat call The Vision Care Center at 812-490-3937.

**Free LASIK procedure offered includes doctor's fee and facility fee for one eye when second eye paid at full fee.

Soccer Related Eye Injuries

As another soccer season draws to a close, doctors at The Vision Care Center have cared for two noteworthy soccer related eye injuries. Both resulted in permanent vision damage in area girls ages 7 and 14 from blunt eye trauma sustained by a kicked ball at short range. In both cases macular damage resulted despite patients being seen and treated within hours of injury. Treatment involved hourly topical steroids, removal from further play and referral to area retinal specialists and in one case to Vanderbilt.

There is little in the American literature regarding soccer related eye injuries, but soccer is the most common cause of sports related injury in Europe. This is thought to be in part because soccer is by definition a hands off sport where players are encouraged to use their heads to impact the ball. 80% of injuries are sustained by a kicked ball near the goalpost where players often congregate and play is rapid and intense. Neither age, gender, level of expertise or player position have any association with severity of injury.

We at The Vision Care Center are promoting a pro-active discussion with the Evansville Area Soccer Association recommending eye protection. Parents and players should be aware of the potential for injury and provided the opportunity for protective eyewear if they desire. Monocular players should absolutely wear protective eyewear. This can be obtained for under $10.00.

Handheld laser pointers…How dangerous are they?

Have you ever looked at a handheld laser pointer and wondered how dangerous they were if shined directly in the eye? These devices are widely available, commonly used in lecture halls and generally considered harmless and safe. Laser pointers available in retail stores in the USA generally have powers of 5 mW. This power is visible to the human eye, but generally considered harmless because the human blink reflex prevents prolonged contact.

However, the internet makes available much more powerful laser pointers of up to 750 mW which can damage the macula instantaneously. A recent report in the New England Journal of Medicine described a 15 year old boy who purchased a 150 mW pointer over the internet in order to pop balloons from a distance and burn holes in paper cards and his sister’s shoes (NEJM, 363:11, p1089-1091). The boy’s life changed however when he was playing with the device in front of a mirror and the beam directly contacted his eye several times. The boy went on to experience bilateral macular laser burns.

The doctors at The Vision Care Center want to warn you that these high powered handheld lasers advertised as “laser pointers” on the internet are nearly indistinguishable from lower powered lasers available in US retail stores. They are virtually the same size and shape as low powered laser pointers used in lecture halls, but because of the higher power, macular contact can result in immediate damage. A safe rule of thumb is to avoid direct eye contact with any laser pointer, but these lasers are especially dangerous.

Dr. Pastora to speak at Henderson County Diabetes Education Group

Dr. Reinaldo Pastora, Ophthalmologist from The Vision Care Center will be speaking at the Henderson County Diabetes Education Group on March 17th at 6:30pm on how Diabetes can affect your eyes. Location: UK County Extension Office, 3341 Hwy. 351 in Henderson, KY (Zion Road across from East Heights School).

Can 3-D Technology Hurt Your Vision?

Article from http://tristatehomepage.com

[View Story as a Video Segment]

The release of Avatar in late 2009 set the stage for a new era of film making. The futuristic blockbuster became the highest grossing movie of all time, much thanks to its groundbreaking use of stereoscopic, 3D imaging.

Showplace Cinemas manager Aaron Smith remembers watching the old 3D films with the red and blue cardboard glasses, but he says technology has come a long way in film, television and video games

Best Buy supervisor, David Hinton, says the technology for 3D television is even more advanced.
“The glasses themselves are powered so they have batteries so they are actually shuttering back and forth which is helping your brain process 3-d imaging better.”

But with these features come new warnings.

Sony, Samsung and Nintendo were some of the first to issue warnings to children, pregnant women, people under the influence and the sleep deprived.

The flashing images, they say, could cause epileptic seizures or damage to eye development to kids under the age of six. continue to full written story >

Handheld Laser Pointer "Toys" Can Cause Serious Eye Injury

Article from Medical News Today

A 15-year old boy ordered a handheld laser pointer online. He wanted it to pop balloons from a distance and play around with, this included burning holes into paper cards and his sister's shoes. Doctors from Lucerne Cantonal Hospital, Lucerne, Switzerland continue explaining in a letter published in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) what happened when he used the laser pointer in front of a mirror. continue to full story>

First Comprehensive LASIK Treatment of Astigmatism
Approved by the FDA

The Vision Care Center first in the area to adopt the latest FDA approved
Technology for Laser Vision Correction

Newburgh, IN – In 1985 a haunting close up photo of an Afghan refugee girl appeared on the cover of National Geographic Magazine. Seventeen years later the magazine set out to try and locate her. The search was successful, but only after the woman was positively identified using iris recognition technology. According to National Geographic. “Iris patterns are even more individual than fingerprints. So the Geographic turned to the inventor of automatic iris recognition, John Daugman, a professor of computer science at England’s University of Cambridge. His biometric technique uses mathematical calculations, and the numbers Daugman got left no question in his mind that the haunted eyes of the young Afghan refugee and the eyes of the adult Sharbat Gula belong to the same person.” (1)

With FDA’s recent approval of the most comprehensive iris recognition eye tracking system available in the US this technology has now advanced the science of laser vision correction. Known as Advanced Control Eyetracking (ACE TM), this technology is only available on the TECHNOLAS Excimer Workstation, produced by the eye laser manufacturer, Technolas Perfect Vision, GmbH, Munich Germany. Active iris recognition tracking applied to laser vision correction allows the system to positively identify the exact orientation of the eye throughout the entire procedure. Since subtle eye movements are common during the LASIK treatment this unique tracking technology ensures that the intended treatment precisely matches the eye’s prescription. This is especially important for patients who have astigmatism in addition to their nearsightedness or farsightedness, which represent the majority of contact lens and spectacle wearers in the US.

“Perhaps the best analogy of the impact of ACE technology is to patients wearing toric contact lenses for astigmatism. One limitation of toric contact lenses is that they can move on the eye thereby creating blurry vision. That’s analogous to laser vision correction WITHOUT ACE tracking. If there were a toric contact lens that held its intended position on the eye and maintained clear vision at all times then that would be analogous to laser vision correction WITH ACE tracking”, according to N. Timothy Peters, M.D. of Portsmouth, NH, one of the first eye surgeons in the US to adopt this new technology.

Many patients with astigmatism believe that they are not suitable candidates for laser vision correction. With the advent of ACE this is no longer true. We finally have a laser vision correction procedure that is ideally suited for the treatment of astigmatism, “said Dr. Peters. Twenty five leading centers across the US have already adopted this technology since the recent FDA approval and now The Vision Care Center at Gateway is also using this new technology to successfully correct astigmatism with LASIK.

No other laser vision correction system available in the US can compensate for eye rotation during the treatment. Both the TECHNOLAS ACE and VISX S4 IR (Abbott Medical Optics, Santa Ana, CA) trackers compensate for the cyclorotation of the eye that can occur between the sitting position during critical diagnostic measurements and lying down on the LASIK bed. However, only the TECHNOLAS ACE technology can adjust the delivery of laser pulses in response to eye rotation during the treatment. Further, the Technolas ACE system is enabled for both conventional and customized wavefront-guided treatments, while the VISX S4 IR tracker cannot adjust for cyclotorsion associated with conventional treatments.

The eyetrackers of the Wavelight Allegretto and Eye Q lasers and Ladarvision brand lasers (Alcon Laboratories, Fort Worth, TX) cannot compensate for eye rotation at all. In fact, a recent large study by Emory University using the Wavelight laser demonstrated that astigmatic eyes were nearly twice as likely as non-astigmatic eyes to require a touch up or enhancement procedure following LASIK. Increased enhancement rates among astigmatic eyes could be indicative or eye rotation during the treatment that goes unchecked. (2)

“This new eye tracker also doubles the speed of tracking so as to allow the laser to rapidly adjust to the eye’s movements; response time with CE is now under 7 milliseconds, or 0.007 seconds. ACE also adjusts for the pupil center shifting that can occur between light and dark settings, critical to the proper centering of customized LASIK treatments over the pupil”, states Dr. Andrew Tharp, eye surgeon at The Vision Care Center. “We have now been successfully treating our astigmatic patients with LASIK and getting wonderful results, with most seeing 20/20 the day after surgery”, he continues.

To learn more about LASIK and the advanced technology of the ACE tracker, you can attend Dr. Tharp’s free monthly seminars. For more information and to reserve your seat call The Vision Care Center at 812.490.3937.

TSA relaxes restrictions on eyedrops, saline

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has relaxed restrictions on the type and amount of liquids passengers may carry aboard both international and domestic flights.

The agency announced earlier this month that passengers may now board flights with all prescription and over-the-counter medications (liquids, gels, and aerosols) including petroleum jelly, eye drops, and saline solution for medical purposes.

The new regulations state that passengers with disabilities and medical conditions may board with the products and are not limited in the amount or volume of prescription or over- the-counter medications they may bring in carry-on luggage.

However, TSA indicated that if the medically necessary item exceeds a limit of three ounces or is not contained in a one quart, zip-top plastic bag, that it must be declared for inspection by security officers at the check point.

TSA officials warned that it was normal procedure to X-ray medications and related supplies. However, as a customer service, passengers may ask that security officials visually inspect medication and associated supplies to prevent contamination or damage.

For more information, visit the TSA Website at: http://www.tsa.gov/travelers/airtravel/specialneeds/editorial_1059.shtm.

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