Eyeworld Daily News

28 | EYEWORLD DAILY NEWS | APRIL 22, 2022 ASCRS ANNUAL MEETING DAILY NEWS 2–4% of all children in the world. The current treatment for this is the doctor prescribes a combination of glasses, patching, and drops and follows up in clinic every 4–12 weeks. The issues with this, he said, are the frequent visits, poor compliance with treatment, too few pediatric specialists, and the costs for time off work/school and transportation. Amblyopia Home would allow for checking the vision at home every 1–4 weeks. This would offer a convenient option for families, and it also has an option for direct messaging between the doctor and patient. For doctors, Dr. Silbert said, it opens up appointments for those who need in-person visits and helps provide efficient amblyopia exams. Dr. Silbert added that this uses existing CPT codes. Amblyopia Home was launched less than a month ago, and the cur- rent goal is to perfect it with pediatric ophthalmologists and move out to the larger optometry and ophthalmology communities, he said. The product has been tested so far in animal and human trials. The com- pany has data on 60 human patients, which has shown the product to be minimally invasive, with no infections or rejections reported so far. Results have also shown a stable corneal thick- ness. You can touch the implant, you can manipulate it, and it's easy to open in the anterior chamber and drag to the right position. ECMSJ Dr. Jabbehdari presented her novel bio-scaffold for corneal epithelial re- generation. The current treatment options are inadequate for corneal epitheli- al defects, she said, adding that this solution, c-MSC-derived bio-scaffold, is a promising approach for the manage- ment of the corneal epithelial defect. Corneal-mesenchymal stem cells (c-MSC) are anti-inflammatory, immu- nomodulatory, anti-neovascularization, anti-fibrotic, and anti-angiogenic. This novel bio-scaffold, she said, has a c-MSC embedded sheet rich in growth/ healing factors, is made by c-MSC-de- rived extracellular matrix (ECM), has suitable biomechanical properties for manipulation, is optically transparent and biodegradable, has the ability for large-scale production, and has promis- ing potential for long-term storage. Dr. Jabbehdari said there has so far been ex vivo porcine model testing, and there is an existing CPT code to support this technology for reimburse- ment. She added that more toxicity testing in the future is needed. Amblyopia Home Dr. Silbert discussed Amblyopia Home, an asynchronous telemedicine app with specific applications for pediatric oph- thalmology aimed at revolutionizing how amblyopia is treated. Amblyopia, Dr. Silbert said, is vision loss in one eye that occurs in T his year, the popular Winning Pitch Challenge was included in the Eyecelerator program. The competition featured three innovative, early-stage companies com- peting for free access to experienced mentors, networking opportunities, exposure to financial resources, and prize money. The session was moderated by Jim Mazzo and Vance Thompson, MD. Panelists included Juliet Bakker, Vartan Ghazarossian, PhD, Richard Lindstrom, MD, and William Link, PhD. First place went to Ofer Daphna with EyeYon Medical, who took home the $25,000 prize. Second place went to Sayena Jabbehdari, MD, MPH, with ECMSJ, who took home the $15,000 prize. Third place went to David Silbert, MD, with Amblyopia Home, who took home the $5,000 prize. EyeYon Medical Dr. Daphna presented EyeYon Medical's EndoArt artificial endothelial layer, which is a synthetic lamellar implant. This will help fill a need in corneal transplantation, he said. The endothe- lial layer cannot regenerate, and the only treatment is with donor tissue. For each cornea being implanted, there are many more patients worldwide waiting for donor tissue, he added, and 60% need only the endothelium to be substituted. This EndoArt aims to help fill the gap between demand and supply. He said it's ready to use, treats only the root cause of corneal edema, and leaves the cornea intact. The EndoArt is optically clear, flexible, and biocom- patible; it's fully synthetic and dome shaped. The EndoArt provides an imper- meable barrier to fluid and decreases passive movement of the aqueous humor into the corneal stroma. It restores fluid homeostatic balance in the stroma. Winning Pitch Challenge at Eyecelerator Dr. Daphna receives the first place prize for his presentation for EyeYon Medical.

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