Optician articles from April 2008

Optician archives from April 2008

Retinal break or tear.(Features)(Disease/Disorder overview)
April 4, 2008... Description A retinal break refers to a full thickness defect in the sensory retina. When a break is associated with vitreous traction, it is termed a retinal tear. Retinal breaks or tears are most often associated with: * Posterior...

News.
April 4, 2008... Book your seats: Support for the Optician Awards is gathering pace as the presentation at the London Hilton on April 19 approaches. Tables sales for the masked ball have already outstripped last year's total. To book your seat go to...

UK first for Academy lectures.(Features)
April 4, 2008... Bausch & Lomb launched its Academy of Vision Care with a series of one-day events around the UK. Optician reports on the first day of lectures, held in London in March With a wealth of CET events on the contact lens calendar this spring,...

P pages.(Brief article)
April 4, 2008... Brulimar has added new designs to its children's Barbie and Action Man frame portfolio. The frames are aimed at girls and boys aged three to eight and both include five different styles. The two collections include adult fashion features...

Buchmann to show finishers.(P pages)(Brief article)
April 4, 2008... Buchmann is promoting its premium range of finishing technology at the Mido show with Briot and WECO equipment. Weco Edge 990 with its blockless technology, completes the glazing process without consumables, while the Weco Edge 950, is also...

ABDO: We'll continue fight for CET equality.(News)
April 4, 2008... By Perry Thakrar perry.thakrar@rbi.co.uk ABDO has expressed extreme disappointment that there will be no change to CET arrangements in the next cycle starting January 2010. As reported in Optician (News, February 1), the...

High technology contact lens materials and their biomimetic properties.(Features)
April 4, 2008... In the second and final part of this series on materials and biomimesis, Professor Carol Morris looks at material interaction with tissues and suggests what may lie ahead in material development. Module C8861, one contact lens point for...

Research studies in solutions.(Features)
April 4, 2008... Recent studies have again focused on contact lens care products and their effects on ocular tissue While the contact lens industry awaits the next major leap forward in lens design and technology, researchers continue to examine aspects of...

News.(Brief article)
April 4, 2008... Business at an optical practice in Essex has been disrupted by roadworks for the past 10 weeks, costing the practice an estimated 40 per cent of its revenue. Dollond & Aitchison in Barkingside high street was affected while work to improve...

News.
April 4, 2008... TRAINING BOOST: Technology specialist Birmingham Optical Group has equipped the Optician Ironman Team with the latest training technology to help them in their efforts to raise funds for Vision Aid Overseas. The Midlands-based supplier of...

P pages.
April 4, 2008... At a launch last month at Jimmy Choo's boutique in London, Safilo released a range of Jimmy Choo sunglasses. Created in collaboration with the famous shoe designer, the luxury frames for women are aimed at the over-25s market. The...

Can you really test in 100 different ways?(Other)(Personal account)(Brief article)
April 4, 2008... * After a lengthy career in optometry I have now realised that my refractive routine must have been sadly lacking throughout. I note that according to a television advertisement, a large multiple chain of opticians has 100 different ways to...

NICE approves Lucentis for all.(News)(Brief article)
April 4, 2008... All sufferers of wet AMD will soon have access to the drug Lucentis on the NHS. The drug which costs approximately [pounds sterling]1,500 per injection had previously only been available though a limited number of PCTs, with some trusts...

ClearVision springs new lines.(P pages)
April 4, 2008... The US frame company ClearVision is presenting its spring collections of BCBG Max Azria, Ellen Tracy, Izod, Izod PerformX and Cole Haan Eyewear at the Mido show from May 9 to 12. The company said its eyewear brands covered a diverse...

Marcolin bears cost of Cebe.(News)
April 4, 2008... Italian eyewear manufacturer Marcolin reported a net loss of [euro]2m for the first half of 2007, among financial results approved by its board of directors. The results were up on the same period in 2006, when Marcolin reported a loss of...

Marcolin clinches distribution agreement with Dsquared2.(P pages)(Brief article)
April 4, 2008... The Marcolin Group has signed a five-year licensing agreement with the fashion brand Dsquared2 and its licensee Staff International for the production and worldwide distribution of frames and sunglasses under the brand name. The deal,...

John (Jock) Inglis.(Features)(Obituary)
April 4, 2008... * It is with great sadness that I write to advise colleagues of the death of John (Jock) Inglis on December 3 2007. Jock, who was the former production manager at Derby Optical Company (DOC) and a Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of...

News.
April 4, 2008... Mondottica and Ted Baker have jointly announced the signing a new worldwide licence agreement - excluding North and South America - extending their deal to 2018. Michael Jardine, Mondottica's chairman, commented: 'Ted Baker is the cornerstone...

Solutions and staining: what we thought we knew.(Features)(Conference notes)
April 4, 2008... Nick Atkins reviews the recent Netherlands Contact Lens Congress The NCC 2008 (contact lens in Dutch is one word, hence the apparent missing 'L') took place last month with a number of the UK ex-pat researchers and speakers convening in...

TV show highlights the value of eye care.(News)
April 4, 2008... The BBC's One Show highlighted the importance of regular eye examinations and explained how optometrists can detect other wider health conditions such brain tumours, diabetes and high cholesterol, which may otherwise go undiscovered. ...

Optos continues to deliver profit.(News)(Brief article)
April 4, 2008... Medical technology company Optos has issued a trading statement revealing that it expects to make a pre-tax profit for the six-month period ending March 31. It will be the fourth consecutive six-month period in which the company has...

P pages.(Orange Eyewear)(Brief article)
April 4, 2008... Orange Eyewear has unveiled 16 new styles to add to its own Orange label, available exclusively to independent opticians. Most of the frames in the collection are suitable for varifocals and have an extra coating to prevent nickel emissions....

Student is expelled for threatening behaviour.(News)(Brief article)
April 4, 2008... A student optometrist, who allegedly terrorised female students at Aston University with threats of stabbing and mutilation has been suspended from the register for 12 months. The interim suspension order was imposed on Karampreet Singh...

Silmo 'sharpens' its look.(P pages)(Brief article)
April 4, 2008... Silmo is launching a high-profile advertising campaign to promote the strengths and differences of the show which will be held in Paris from October 30 to November 2. With its offer of fashion, health and technology, organisers described...

head to go here.(News)(Brief article)
April 4, 2008... * A substantive hearing of the General Optical Council's fitness to practise committee for John Edward Stevenson will take place on April 8 2008 in London. It is alleged that the optometrist failed to carry out a number of tests on a...

Concern over job title and testing.(Other)
April 4, 2008... * I was quite surprised to learn that dispensing opticians have suddenly gained the right to use what I presumed was a protected title optometrist, and also that they are now qualified to perform 'a full eye test', quoted from page 9 of...

News.(Transitions Optical )(Brief article)
April 4, 2008... prime time viewing: Transitions Optical launched its biggest ever UK TV marketing campaign on March 31. The TV commercial, which will run throughout April, features a 'day in the life' of a nature cinematographer working in Namibia who relies...

Cataract agreement is a success story.(News)(Brief article)
April 4, 2008... * I would like to thank Helen Pickford, chairman North Wales ROC, for her success in negotiating an agreement to uplift our cataract referral scheme fee for this year back dated to April 07 and an agreement to automatically increase the fee in...

Roadworks take a toll.(News)(Association of British Dispensing Opticians)(Canterbury Christ Church University)(Brief article)
April 4, 2008... ABDO College, Godmersham Park, near Canterbury is working with Canterbury Christ Church University to launch a foundation degree course commencing in September 2008. The Foundation Degree Course in Ophthalmic Dispensing is designed for...

DO to face new hearing.(News)(Brief article)
April 4, 2008... A fitness to practise hearing for a dispensing optician who allegedly fitted 14 patients with contact lenses while not qualified will now take place on April 7 in London. A previous hearing in January was adjourned to allow an expert...

News.(Brief article)
April 4, 2008... fashion statement: Pop diva Beyonce is to launch her own sunglass line and other accessories as part of the portfolio of her family's fashion empire, House of Dereon, which is spearheaded by her mother Tina Knowles. 'I can't wait for jewellery...

Biofinity silicone hydrogels.(Features)
April 4, 2008... Guy Whittaker looks at the properties and performance of the latest silicone hydrogel lens Silicone hydrogels have had a significant effect on the contact lens market since their launch in the late 1990s. Morgan1 reports that in 2007...

Case studies in contact lensesPart 3 - High ametropia.(Features)
April 4, 2008... In the third of our sample contact lens case studies, Jonathan Walker describes how a high astigmatic error was successfully corrected using rigid lenses Fitting the high astigmat is always a challenge, but when they are also long sighted...

Profession wins over business.(Features)
April 4, 2008... Optician attends the latest CIBA Vision Specialist Club day and finds it informative and entertaining With the day being topped and tailed by a clinical presentation looking at disease management, a debate about professionalism and a call...

Features.
April 4, 2008... 1 Which of the following has the highest water content? A Focus Dailies B Acuvue 1-Day Moist C Soflens D Clear 1-Day 2 Which of the following contains an additive? A Focus Dailies All Day Comfort B Acuvue 1-Day...

Location, location, location.(Features)(Brief article)
April 4, 2008... Whether it is Kirsty and Phil finding that dream home for a young couple or Mary Portas advising a start-up business, today it seems location is king. More importantly, for optical practices that doesn't mean finding a great place and signing a...

News.
April 4, 2008... APRIL 7 South Wales Optical Association, Cardiff, Lectures on 'Prescribing for children' and 'Paediatric dispensing' (tonypandy@gwynns.co.uk) 7 Northamptonshire Optical Association, Northampton, Turville Memorial Lecture 'Recent...

Warning to practices over dirty equipment.(News)
April 4, 2008... By Alex Thomas alex.thomas@rbi.co.uk Some practitioners are using poorly serviced or dirty optical testing equipment during examinations which may affect results, Optician has learned. College of Optometrists guidelines for...

Increase in NHS tests.(News)(Brief article)
April 4, 2008... By Perry Thakrar perry.thakrar@rbi.co.uk Practitioners in England carried out more than 200,000 additional NHS sight tests in the six-month period ending September 2007, when compared to the same period the previous year. This is...

Tooth used to restore vision.(News)(Brief article)
April 4, 2008... A man blinded in an industrial explosion has regained partial sight after surgeons used his son's tooth in a osteo-odonto-keratoprosthesis (OOKP), operation. Robert McNicol, 57, from Co Sligo, Ireland turned to surgeons at the Sussex Eye...

Features.
April 4, 2008... Previous Verum columns have argued that for the optics profession to be more involved in primary eye care, it needs to do two things. First, act as one profession, with all sectors working together. Second, engage locally with those who make...

Optics unites behind strategy for change.(News)
April 4, 2008... By Perry Thakrar perry.thakrar@rbi.co.uk The UK's first ever Vision Strategy will give optics the opportunity to put an end to old rivalries and take a step towards a unified programme to prevent avoidable sight loss, according to the...

Raiders steal designer frames valued at [pounds sterling]70k.(News)
April 11, 2008... Designer frames with an approximate retail value of [pounds sterling]70,000 were stolen from a Lancashire practice in the early hours of March 27. About 400 frames were taken in the raid on the Spectacle Factory in Bamber Bridge, with the...

Retinal capillary haemangiomaRetinal angiomatosis.(Features)(Disease/Disorder overview)
April 11, 2008... DESCRIPTION Retinal capillary haemangiomas are benign vascular tumours composed of primitive blood vessels in a loose connective tissue stroma. These vessels leak fluid, which may lead to the formation of exudates, haemorrhage and retinal...

Novartis buys stake in Alcon.(News)
April 11, 2008... Novartis has agreed to buy a 25 per cent stake in eye care company Alcon from Nestle for $11bn and has the option to acquire further shares to secure a majority control. Novartis offered $143.18 a share for Alcon and has negotiated the...

P pages.
April 11, 2008... A dispensing optician from Ilford will be running the London Marathon on April 13 to raise money for Haven House of London, a hospice for terminally-ill children. Running on behalf of Canary Wharf Rotary Club, 56-year-old Anil Gupta will be...

News.(Brief article)
April 11, 2008... Sundog stick selling separately Sundog eyewear has launched their Anti-Fog stick - originally given away with every purchase of their Ballistic sunglasses - for individual sale. Based on a formula of peg-8 beeswax, polyether siloxanes...

Beausoleil adds new designs.(Other)(Brief article)
April 11, 2008... Beausoleil has released a new acetate sunglass and frame design for summer 2008. The S/217 sunglass (1) has a large rectangular front and comes in new colours including 'camouflage', for a relaxed and modern style, or the glamorous...

Black & Lizars' buyer plans UK expansion.(News)
April 11, 2008... Black & Lizars, the largest independent optical group in Scotland, has set its sights on expanding throughout the UK after its acquisition by a European investment consortium for a sum believed to be around [pounds sterling]20m. The...

Scots OO helps restore vision of blitz victim.(News)(Brief article)
April 11, 2008... A man who lost the use of an eye during the blitz has had his sight restored 66 years later thanks to the diligence of Scottish optometrist Frank Munro. John Gray lost the use of his right eye during a Luftwaffe bombing raid on Clydeside...

P pages.(Brief article)
April 11, 2008... Norville sees through the mist Noville believe that the Clarity DeFog-it is the best ever anti-fog solution available. Specially formulated for application on anti-reflection coatings, it is supplied as a 12 bottle pack priced at [pounds...

Norville clears fog with Clarity.(News)(Brief article)
April 11, 2008... Norville believes that the Clarity DeFog-it is the best ever anti-fog solution available. Specially formulated for application on anti-reflection coatings, it is supplied as a 12-bottle pack priced at [pounds sterling]30 or as a 20-unit...

Dunelm grows sales team.(P pages)
April 11, 2008... Dunelm has appointed Oliver Beaumont (above) to its national sales team. He will be responsible for the John Rocha brand and will cover Scotland and the north of England. Beaumont's father, Dunelm's director Peter Beaumont, said of...

MacArthur credits Bolle.(P pages)(Brief article)
April 11, 2008... Dame Ellen MacArthur was awarded the Legion d'Honneur, France's highest decoration, by French President Nicolas Sarkozy in a recent ceremony at the Old Royal Naval College at Greenwich. It was made as a formal recognition of the award given...

Other.(Brief article)
April 11, 2008... 'Comment' of March 21 suggests that optometrists may be taken more seriously by the public following the court case where David Stidwell gave evidence regarding the fitness to drive of a patient who had been advised to wear their spectacles...

Glasgow to herald Heron.(P pages)(Brief article)
April 11, 2008... A two-day conference will be held at Glasgow Caledonian University to celebrate the career of Professor Gordon Heron (pictured above) who is to retire from the university's Department of Vision Sciences in May. Heron published a number of...

Raiders target luxury brands.(News)(Brief article)
April 11, 2008... Thieves have stolen more than [pounds sterling]15,000 worth of frames from Icon Opticians in Hampstead, London. The break-in happened in the early hours of last Sunday morning when thieves used crowbars to smash the store's shutters and...

Italian for beginners.(Features)
April 11, 2008... In the first of an occasional series on global developments in optometry, Dr Janet Voke looks at recent changes in optometry training in Italy which have implications for the future of the profession throughout Europe After decades of...

Wearers urged to book test online.(News)
April 11, 2008... Johnson & Johnson Vision Care is encouraging patients to book an eye examination using an online call-back service. Using the Click to be Contacted programme on the Acuvue website, the prospective contact lens patient is given a call back...

Other.
April 11, 2008... I attended a meeting the other day where the topic of internet spectacle sales came up. The chair of the meeting, who was not an optometrist, felt that the presence of internet spectacles represented a massive threat to the future of optometry...

P pages.
April 11, 2008... Dispensing optician Anil Gupta ran the London marathon on April 7 for the Canary Wharf Rotary Club to raise money for Haven house in London, a hospice which cares for terminally ill children. It was the 56-year-old (XXX pictured running in...

News.
April 11, 2008... The results of a new study comparing CIBA Vision Air Optix for Astigmatism contact lenses to Pure Vision Toric lenses show that Air Optix was rated significantly higher for comfort, dryness and handling. The multi-centre study conducted by CIBA...

Primary care schemes prove their worth.(Other)
April 11, 2008... The Welsh PEARS and WEHE schemes, along with the Wales Low Vision Service, have been given a clean bill of health in two Cardiff University reports commissioned by the Welsh Assembly Government. The evaluation of the Primary Eyecare Acute...

Pepe Jeans London set to lift off.(P pages)(Brief article)
April 11, 2008... The new Pepe Jeans London eyewear collection is a mixture of over 25 frame and sunglasses for men and women as well as featuring unisex models. Each model comes in a range of colours and all sunglasses feature 100 per cent UV lens...

Eyes saved.(News)
April 11, 2008... The delivery of an anti-cancer drug directly into the ophthalmic artery offers a new way to treat retinoblastoma. In trials on 18 children at US hospitals, 16 had their tumour cured and 14 kept their eye. Of the eyes that were saved, nine...

Vear moves to Rodenstock.(P pages)
April 11, 2008... Rodenstock UK has announced the appointment of Steve Vear as its new sales director. Having worked in the optical industry for 10 years, Vear is already known within the profession through his previous role as national sales development manager...

Snapping up Kodak.(News)
April 11, 2008... The prospect of harnessing the marketing power of a multinational has its attractions for the independent practitioner. Alex Thomas reports on the benefits of becoming a Kodak Lens Vision Centre Offering free re-branding, design for...

Multiple builds Finnish share.(News)(Brief article)
April 11, 2008... Specsavers has acquired the Finnish optical chain TA[currency]hti Optikko in a [euro]15m deal from Kesko Corporation. Specsavers claims to already have a 10 per cent share of the Finnish optical market after opening practices there nine...

P pages.(Brief article)
April 11, 2008... To complement the Xtreme ophthalmic range, Stepper has revealed the new Xtreme dedicated prescription sunglass collection. The 14-frame collection comes with grey or brown tinted plano lenses for 100 per cent UVA and UVB protection. Available...

Concern over job title and testing.(Other)
April 11, 2008... * I was quite surprised to learn that dispensing opticians have suddenly gained the right to use what I presumed was a protected title optometrist, and also that they are now qualified to perform 'a full eye test', quoted from page 9 of...

Cataract work shows promise.(News)(Brief article)
April 11, 2008... Research at the University of Ulster using nanotechnology could lead to an alternative treatment to the surgical removal of cataracts. Barbara Pierscionek, Professor of Optometry and Vision Science at Ulster, explained that recent advances...

News.(Brief article)
April 11, 2008... A Day at the races: Staff at Stephen Wilcox Optometrists in Liverpool celebrated the practice's 25th anniversary in style with a day at the Grand National Meeting at Aintree. The trip was organised by owner Stephen Wilcox and his wife, Suzanne,...

New liverymen join Worshipful Company of Spectacle Makers.(P pages)(Brief article)
April 11, 2008... The Worshipful Company of Spectacle Makers has welcomed a number of optical professionals as liverymen at Apothecaries' Hall. Moira Black, honorary treasurer and lay member of the GOC was joined by Martin Russ of TMR, ophthalmologist Irving...

Zeiss extends FrameFit range.(Other)(Brief article)
April 11, 2008... Carl Zeiss Vision has recently extended the availability of its premium Zeiss-branded progressive lens - Gradal Individual FrameFit. The 1.6 and 1.67 Transitions 70mm minus range has been extended to a power of -10.00D from -6.00D. ...

Black & Lizars plans expansion across UK.(News)
April 11, 2008... Black & Lizars, the largest independent optical group in Scotland, has set its sights on expanding throughout the UK after its acquisition by a European investment consortium for a sum believed to be around [pounds sterling]20m. The...

Book a seat - It's your party.(Features)
April 11, 2008... In just over a week the great and good of the retail optical business and optometry will meet at the Hilton Hotel in London's Park Lane to celebrate the presentation of the 2008 Optician Awards. I bring this fact up not just to blow Optician's...

Medical models of consultation.(Features)
April 11, 2008... Andrew Millington begins a new series looking at aspects of clinical communication and how they may be applied to the optometrist's role There is a whole raft of research into the role of the consultation in general medicine, but...

News.
April 11, 2008... April 16 Essex LOC, Chelmasford East of England CET Conference Maximum 7 points. Presenations, refreshments and trade exhibition. (jeloc1@btconnect.com) April 22 BCLA, Merseyside Presidential address 'Seeing is...

News.
April 11, 2008... APRIL 16 Essex LOC, Chelmsford, East of England CET Conference, Maximum seven points presentations, refreshments and trade exhibition (jeloc@btconnect.com) 16 West Sussex LOC, Worthing Post Graduate Medical Centre, New technologies...

Let's get Physio.(Features)
April 11, 2008... Essilor launches a new lens in the Physio f-360 and a new machine for taking the relevant measurements. Optician reports Two years on from the launch of the Physio, last week Essilor announced its latest new lens, the Physio f-360....

GOC removes 442 names for failure to re-register.(News)(General Optical Council )(Brief article)
April 11, 2008... The General Optical Council has removed 442 registrants from its register for failure to renew their registration for 2008/09. Figures released by the Council reveal that included in that total are 184 optometrists, 179 dispensing opticians...

News.
April 11, 2008... I attended a meeting the other day where the topic of internet spectacle sales came up. The chair of the meeting, who was not an optometrist, felt that internet spectacles represented a massive threat to the future of optometry practices. His...

Study finds myopia link in winter births.(News)(Report)
April 11, 2008... Babies born in autumn or winter months have a greater chance of severe myopia than those born in the summer months, according to research findings published in the April edition of Ophthalmology. As part of their research, Dr Yossie Mandel...

Concerns raised over GOC lay appointments.(News)(General optician commission)
April 11, 2008... By Perry Thakrar perry.thakrar@rbi.co.uk Optical bodies have expressed concerns about the appointment of unelected members to the new GOC board when the Appointments Commission takes over in 2009. As reported in Optician (March...