High street optometrists bring OCT to life at Optrafair

14 March 2016

Hemel Hempstead, UK – Heidelberg Engineering has announced the speaker line up for Optrafair 2016. Nine High Street optometrists and dispensing opticians who have integrated OCT successfully into practice will discuss how they did it, and how it improved patient care, across three seminars hosted on the main stage.

“Striking the perfect balance between promoting clinical services and retail sales is quite a challenge”, explained Krysten Williams, Heidelberg Engineering Director. “Understanding and truly believing in the benefits of a multi-modal imaging approach to the diagnosis and treatment of eye disease for patients is vital to success.”

The Optrafair seminars will combine clinical education with personal experiences and practical business advice on improving the standard of patient care whilst being profitable.

Dates, timings and speakers:

15:10 – 16:10 – Saturday 9^th April

Paul Adler, Paul Adler Optometrists
Peter Waite, KG Miles Opticians
Mark Holloway, Thomas and Holloway Opticians

11:00 – 12:00 – Sunday 10^th April

John Rose, John Rose Eye Care
Jason Rickaby, Jason Rickaby Opticians
Jude Edwards, Healthy U Optometrists

13:15 – 14:15 – Monday 11^th April

Niall O’Kane, Niall O’Kane Optometrists
Romana Hashim, The Eye Academy

Register for the sessions at: www.optrafair.co.uk/cet

Link between Alzheimer’s disease and impaired vision found by researchers

7 March 2016

Hemel Hempstead, UK – The role of SPECTRALIS® in pioneering research was cemented at the latest Heidelberg Engineering Academy event. Professor John Nolan, Principal Investigator at the Vision Research Centre, Waterford Institute of Technology, presented his latest research on the relationship between cognitive function and macular pigment density measured using SPECTRALIS at the Optometric Faculty Launch on Sunday 7th February in London.

The team at Waterford has found that carotenoids impact on cognitive function¹ and patients with Alzheimer’s disease are more likely to be seriously deficient in carotenoids, key nutrients in the eye, than others in their age group².

“A study looking at the impact of carotenoid supplementation on vision in patients with Alzheimer’s disease showed that patients using supplements that are rich in carotenoids experienced improved vision as their macular pigment was boosted2”, explained Professor Nolan. “The next phase of the research will follow a cohort of patients with early signs of cognitive decline over a three-year period to investigate whether taking specific supplements can arrest the decline in and improve their cognitive function”, he continued.

Macular pigment can be qualitatively assessed and monitored over time to using SPECTRALIS with the BluePeak Autofluorescence Module combined with TruTrack Active Eye Tracking. The Macular Pigment Density Module for SPECTRALIS used by Professor Nolan will allow quantitative measurement of macular pigment. It is currently under development and not for sale, but will be available as an upgrade to all expandable SPECTRALIS imaging platforms in the future, proving SPECTRALIS, once again, to be a safe investment.

1. Feeney, J. et al. Low macular pigment optical density is associated with lower cognitive performance in a large, population-based sample of older adults. Neurobiol Aging. 34, 2449-56 (2013)
2. Nolan, J. et al. The impact of supplemental macular carotenoids in Alzheimer’s disease: a randomized clinical trial. J Alzheimers Dis. 44,1157-69 (2015)

New Optometric Faculty share secrets to success at launch event

4 March 2016

Hemel Hempstead, UK – Eye care professionals interested in improving the standard of patient care recently shared an opportunity to learn more from a new optometric education faculty.

The Optometric Faculty, made up of eye care professionals passionate about patient care, will help organise CET accredited educational events nationwide where they will provide the education optometrists need to promote enhanced clinical services. They will also encourage their peers to embrace shared care opportunities within the community to establish themselves as primary care providers.

The launch, which took place aboard the Sunborn Yacht on Sunday 7th February, was chaired by Jude Edwards, Optometrist and Faculty Chairman, who emphasised the value to optometrists in peer to peer education;

“By sharing our knowledge, ideas and successes, we will be better able to apply advanced imaging technology for the early detection and treatment of eye disease and position ourselves as primary care providers,” said Jude.

The launch also featured an inspiring lecture from Professor John Nolan, Scientist at Mater Hospital Ireland, about the role of macular carotenoids for an enhanced visual experience and improvement in cognitive brain function.

Visit www.HE-Academy.com to discover over 50 hours of CET available in 2016.

SPECTRALIS Connect Investment Club now open!

22 February 2016

Hemel Hempstead, UK – The SPECTRALIS Connect Investment Club was officially opened for its second year on Saturday 6th February 2016 by Heidelberg Engineering and is set to bring cost savings and to facilitate access to advanced eye scanning technology.

All purchasers of the SPECTRALIS expandable imaging platform are eligible to join the club, which brings great benefits, as Krysten Williams, Heidelberg Engineering Director, explained –

“By combining the orders for SPECTRALIS systems and upgrades of many practices during the investment club period, we are able to offer more attractive pricing for each customer. The scheme covers all methods of financing the purchase. We want to really promote the fact that we have not just a superb OCT, but also an expandable multi-modality platform for enhanced patient care: an investment for the future,” said Krysten.

The Investment Club allows practices to expand the functionality of the SPECTRALIS, or invest in additional systems, at a significant cost reduction and is just one of the perks of the SPECTRALIS Connect Programme, which every practice is enrolled in when they become a SPECTRALIS owner:

• Two days on-site operator and clinical training.
• Free place on SPECTRALIS Operation and Interpretation Course.
• Front of house staff eye health check sales training.
• Access to the Connect Customer Portal and Online Certification Programme.
• Access to the Connect Business Academy for expert business advice on integrating multi-modality imaging into practice.

The SPECTRALIS Connect Investment Club is only open to new members from Saturday 6th February until Monday 11th April 2016 when Optrafair 2016 closes.

To find out more about special pricing for 2016 and becoming a club member, please contact Info-UK@HeidelbergEngineering.com

Heidelberg Engineering brings OCT to life with OCT LIVE

1 February 2016

OCT LIVE is a new series of CET-accredited educational events nationwide with a glaucoma theme.

Hemel Hempstead, UK – Running from 2nd February, the roadshows will guide you through the patient journey, from scanning the patient live in HD on the big screen to interpreting the images and making a decision on patient management. These interactive, CET-accredited sessions challenge the classic case study book format and demonstrate how a multimodal imaging approach can be used in real life to assess a patient’s eye.

This year’s theme is glaucoma, and the Heidelberg Engineering Academy team plus special guest speakers will explain how OCT can be used to spot the early signs of glaucoma, to monitor progression of the disease and in making decisions on patient management.

“The OCT LIVE roadshows are an exciting way for practitioners to learn about OCT as they can see the scan taking place live in high definition and learn every aspect of OCT playing a major role in the detection and treatment of glaucoma” explains Christopher Mody, Director of Clinical Services at Heidelberg Engineering.

The roadshows are held in the evening, starting at 6.30pm and are suitable for OCT beginners and skilled users alike.

Upcoming dates and locations:

• Jurys Inn, Newcastle upon Tyne: Tuesday 2^nd February 2016
• Mercure Hotel, Winchester: Monday 15^th February 2016
• Holiday Inn (Cardiff City), Cardiff: Tuesday 23^rd February 2016
• Hilton Belfast Templepatrick Golf & Country Club, Belfast: Monday 7^th March 2016
• The Barnstaple Hotel, Barnstable: Monday 14^th March 2016
• The Grand Hotel, Torbay: Tuesday 15^th March 2016

To register your interest in an event, please email
Academy-UK@HeidelbergEngineering.com
with your name, address, tel. number, email and GOC number.

Heidelberg Engineering launches OCTips column in collaboration with Dispensing Optics Magazine

29 January 2016

Hemel Hempstead, UK – Heidelberg Engineering have produced a new series called OCTips in collaboration with Dispensing Optics magazine. The six part series will offer helpful insights on fundus imaging and OCT scanning.

“OCT imaging is increasingly being included in the array of tests performed by dispensing opticians routinely in practice” explains Christopher Mody, Director of Clinical Services at Heidelberg Engineering, “understanding the purpose and importance of multimodality imaging, mastering the technique to get the most accurate results and being able to differentiate normal from abnormal will ultimately help the operator to improve patient care with a comprehensive eye health check for early diagnosis and treatment at the right time”.

The first set of tips is entitled “Should I display my OCT scans in colour or greyscale?” and will be published on the 3rd January in Dispensing Optics Magazine.

First SPECTRALIS OCT2 delivered at University Hospital Southampton

21 January 2016

Hemel Hempstead, UK – The first SPECTRALIS OCT2 Module, the next generation OCT from Heidelberg Engineering, has been delivered at Southampton General Hospital.

Just released, the much in demand upgrade provides a platform for advanced applications such as OCT angiography*.

“The imaging team and the consultants are all very excited about the new investment we made for the Eye Unit”, explains Gabriella De Salvo, Consultant Ophthalmologist at University Hospital Southampton. “We decided to invest in the SPECTRALIS OCT2 because we believe it is an excellent tool that will allow us to improve the quality of both our patient care and service. We trust that its high resolution and fast acquisition speed will have a huge impact on the number of patients we see in our outpatient clinics and will allow us to increase our capacity.”

“We have always believed in multimodality imaging and are eager to experience the latest diagnostic capabilities, such as 55° widefield MultiColor and BluePeak fundus autofluorescence”, continues Gabriella. “These new imaging modalities will enable us to be even more precise in the diagnosis and follow-up of various retinal and glaucomatous diseases, and to better study those conditions affecting the mid and peripheral retina. We value and find very useful the three-dimensional view of the retina visualised in the transverse image, and we are looking forward to seeing the release of the SPECTRALIS OCT Angiography Module*, which will certainly be the ‘cherry on the top’ of this marvellous diagnostic tool.”

The OCT2 Module brings the next generation of OCT technology to the SPECTRALIS diagnostic imaging platform. It combines a high scan rate of 85,000 Hz with Heidelberg Engineering’s proprietary TruTrack Active Eye Tracking to provide excellent image quality and significantly improved acquisition speed.

*The OCT Angiography Module for SPECTRALIS is under development and not currently for sale.

Record numbers attend 13th International SPECTRALIS Symposium 2015 in Valencia

18 January 2016

Heidelberg, Germany – More than 400 participants from 49 countries accepted an invitation from the Heidelberg Engineering Academy to the 13^th International SPECTRALIS Symposium in Valencia, Spain, held on October 16 and 17, 2015.

“This success was certainly partly due to the attractive venue” explained Dr Stephan Schultz, Head of the Heidelberg Engineering Academy, “but above all, it can be attributed to the high-level international faculty, the interesting scientific program, and the constructive discussions generated.”

The program and the poster sessions were devoted to clinical applications and research work carried out with diagnostic imaging tools for retina and glaucoma. Several lectures covered the clinical use of well-known SPECTRALIS examinations such as MultiColor or autofluorescence imaging, but innovations such as the Widefield Imaging Module or the Glaucoma Module Premium Edition were also discussed. The clinical application of OCT Angiography* was one of the newest topics under discussion.

You can now view the video recordings of the ISS lectures by going to www.HE-Academy.com and selecting “conference videos”.

The 14^th International SPECTRALIS Symposium will take place in Vienna, Austria, on November 25 and 26, 2016. Registration will open from the end of February 2016.

*OCT Angiography for SPECTRALIS is under development and not currently for sale