Nanotechnology has potential to alter ophthalmic treatment paradigms

HONG KONG — Nanotechnology could significantly change the treatment of ocular diseases, providing such improvements as regeneration of the optic nerve and 24-hour IOP measurement, a clinician said here. "Nanotechnology is going to completely revolutionize our lives and alter civilization as we know it," Robert Ritch, MD, FACS, FICS, FRCOphth(UK), DSc(Hon), said at the World Ophthalmology Congress meeting. Dr. Ritch presented the Timothy KC Liu Memorial Lecture at the Asia-Pacific Academy of Ophthalmology Symposium held at the meeting.

Dr. Ritch also received the Timothy KC Liu Memorial Award at the symposium.

In his presentation, he said that nanotechnology could make corneal repair and regeneration, artificial corneas, lens repair and regeneration, retinal regeneration and artificial retinas all treatment realities. Also, it could revolutionize treatment for glaucoma, finally eliminating the need for eye drops to be administered by patients and more accurately measure IOP, he said.

"The holy grail of glaucoma has been the 24-hour monitoring of intraocular pressure," Dr. Ritch said. "If I see a patient four times a year, I can check his pressure four times. That gives me almost nothing, except if it's in the normal range. We want to know what's happening at night, during sleep, climbing stairs, doing exercise and when the drugs wear off."

Nanotechnology is based on the molecular self-assembly production of new or improved materials, as can be observed in nature, Dr. Ritch said. It creates and uses materials and devices at a scale size of intracellular structures and molecules. Regenerative ophthalmology uses stem cells, tissue bioengineering and gene therapy to effect treatment, he said.

He compared the medical innovation technology with the world-changing impact of the Internet and said that it could be more important, in the scope of world history, than harnessing electricity or the invention of the internal combustion engine.

Also at the symposium, Yoshihito Honda, MD, PhD, presented the De Ocampo Lecture, highlighting the structure of the retina. The Susruta Lecture was given by Prof. Shad Mohammad, who presented on cataract blindness rates around the world, with special emphasis on Pakistan. Li Xiaorong, MD, presented the Holmes Lecture, outlining the rate and treatment of blindness from various ocular diseases in China.

In addition, Timothy YY Lai, MD, FRCS, received the Nakajima Award. He presented the award lecture on the use of multifocal electroretinography to evaluate retinal dysfunction associated with pharmacological agents.