Artificial Eyes Blog

Artificial Eyes are not for Eating

Todd Cranmore — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 15:46:57 +0000

In my very first blog post a few years ago, I wrote on an interesting subject of people’s pets chewing on their prosthetic eyes. Today’s post is similar in some ways, it involves teeth and prosthetic eyes as well. As we all know, kids are prone to put anything into their mouths and chomp on it a bit. Over the years, we have had a few patients chew on their own artificial eyes. Here are some before an after photos of a repair we did recently. I am happy to report that this particular child has grown out of their habit!

Marquette player’s eyeball popped out

Todd Cranmore — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 00:24:25 +0000

It’s April 1st, but there is still some March Madness going on!

This is a repost of a story orignially run by Mike Foss of USA TODAY Sports.

USA TODAY Sports

Chris Otule is a big piece of Marquette’s run to the Elite Eight.

He also has only one eye; he popped out the artificial one for CBS’ Jeff Goodman after Thursday’s 71-61 defeat of Miami (Fla).

“I guess you could call it glaucoma,” Otule told said in an interview with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “I was born with one eye, actually, and the other one wasn’t fully developed. So I had to get an artificial (left) eye, since I was one or two. And every time I grew out of it, I had to go back to the doctor and they’d make a new one.

“I’ve always had one eye,” Otule said. “It didn’t happen in the middle of my life; I’ve had it since birth. If I hadn’t had it since birth, it would probably be difficult to adjust to. But I’ve always been used to it, since I’ve had it since birth.”

A redshirt senior, Otule has come a long way in his time with the Golden Eagles. He told CBS of the first impression he made on coach Buzz Williams in high school.

“He told me I sucked,” Otule said. “But he said that I would improve at Marquette. That’s how he earned my trust. He was brutally honest.”

Did Williams remember the interaction differently?

“He did suck,” Williams added. “He was a bad player, but we really need a big guy.”

Williams knew of Otule’s ineptitude on the court, but he didn’t know he was blind until the team doctor Ernest Eugene evaluated Otule the summer before his freshman year.

“Coach, you have a few minutes?” Eugene said. “Did you know Chris was blind?”

“What the hell are you talking about?” Williams responded.

That’s when Eugene told Williams about Otule’s glass eye.

“I couldn’t believe it,” Williams said.

Well, now we are all believers.

Retrial Begins in “Eye Popping” Assault Case

Todd Cranmore — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 21:45:34 +0000

A few patients have asked me about this case, which was originally declared a mistrial in February. Here is an excerpt from the story by DAVID GAMBACORTA

“NO BODY PARTS came tumbling out, but there was still plenty of drama Wednesday in Common Pleas Court as the aggravated-assault retrial of Matthew Brunelli unfolded.

Prosecutors have accused Brunelli, 23, of punching onetime bouncer John “Big Red” Huttick in the left eye with an object – possibly a car key – outside a Burholme bar on Aug. 18, 2011, leaving Huttick with a gruesome wound that ultimately caused the eyeball to be removed.

A mistrial was granted in February after Huttick’s glass eye shockingly popped out while he wept on the witness stand.”

Read full story here: Philly.com

Silicone VPS Impression Material

Todd Cranmore — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 20:51:41 +0000

Happy New Year!

We wanted to post an update on one of the changes we made to our process in the last year. Last summer, we started to use a new impression material called Vinyl Polysiloxane (VPS for short). This has been used in dentistry and other fields for years. We found a brand that we really like, that is very hydrophilic, has great flow and is allowing us to get amazingly accurate impressions!

We are so excited about this change as the impression has been one of the more uncomfortable stages in our fitting. Patients who have previously experienced discomfort or irritation with the alginate molding material report that this new impression is MUCH more comfortable! The VPS material does not pull moisture from the surrounding tissue, which makes it much more comfortable and also leaves the socket in perfect condition for fitting.

As beneficial as this material is to the patient experience, it is just as beneficial to our ocularist experience and prosthetic fitting. This material allows us to make improvements to our fitting. The material is very versatile and strong, so we do not lose the shape over time and in our casting. Multiple impressions are also possible, providing us with more flexibility and creativity in fitting. One of the most exciting changes of this material is the ability to store the impression for future use and reference. We store the impressions in a cabinet in labeled trays.

The VPS material itself is a great improvement over alginate:

Improved Patient Comfort

Does not promote swelling

Hydroactive – does not pull moisture from patient tissue

Strong, thin material

Can be stored indefinitely

Ability to reference impression at future visits

Very easy to use and mix

We look forward to continuing to use this material and improving patient comfort and the quality of our ocular prosthetics. Hope your year is off to a great start!

Apple leads the way in providing accessibility for the visually impaired

Todd Cranmore — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 22:15:30 +0000

Below is a story from the Sydney Morning Hearld by Garry Barker:

David Woodbridge relies on apps such as VoiceOver and Light Detector at work and home.

DAVID Woodbridge is an Apple addict. In his house there are four iPads, four iPhones – ranging from the 3GS to the 5 – a MacBook Pro, an iMac, a MacBook Air, a gaggle of iPods – including a Shuffle, a Nano and an iPod Touch – and an Apple TV.

Oh yes, and he is totally blind.

Born prematurely, he was put into a humidicrib where the oxygen level was too high. The result was damage to the blood vessels in his eyes and fairly rapid deterioration of his sight until, in his early teens, he became blind.

Yet, through the accessibility technology Apple has made available with little or no fanfare since the II in the 1970s, in more than 30 years he has built a busy and fruitful personal and professional life.

Woodbridge’s grand collection of i-gear is distributed among himself, his wife, who runs a business from the iMac and the Air, and two young boys, but it all started with his needs at home and in his job as technology manager for a large non-profit organization.

Apple has for years led the general computing industry in building software that allows disabled people to work and play on almost level computing and communications fields with the rest of the community. The revolution caused by the arrival of touchscreen technology on mobile devices has not changed that policy of providing accessibility for all. Indeed, Apple has enhanced it by providing, and encouraging the building of, a huge range of apps to help the disabled, along with a variety of accessories such as styluses for users with motor problems and inductive ear loops for those with seriously impaired hearing.

For people such as Woodbridge, one of the biggest Apple inventions has been VoiceOver, which arrived in the third version of iOS, Apple’s mobile operating system released with the iPhone 3GS. It is a vocal screen reader that makes it easy for those with impaired or no vision to navigate a touchscreen to find and use almost any app.

Tap on an iPad app icon and VoiceOver describes it. Double-tap to open the app and VoiceOver guides you through its use.

“With VoiceOver I can support not only myself but also my boys and my wife,” Woodbridge says. “I press the Home button on the iPhone three times to turn VoiceOver on or off when I need to help them. For example, if my wife gets an SMS when she is driving I can call up VoiceOver on her iPhone to read the message to her and we can reply using Siri, which is one of the great iOS developments, getting better all the time.

“Or, say an app on one of the iPads is not working properly. I use VoiceOver to shut the app down from App Switcher, relaunch it and triple-click to hand the iPad back with the app running as good as new.”

VoiceOver covers most things that can be done on the touchscreen.

“VoiceOver also gives me a talking interface on the Apple TV so I can browse and select movies and TV shows for my boys to watch,” he says. “We all have our own favourite apps, movies, music and so on, but for me one of the apps I really like is Light Detector, which allows me to make sure I have turned off all the lights before I go to bed.”

At work, Woodbridge uses a variety of software, helped by the accurate keyboard skill he has developed since his teen years. VoiceOver reads back the text of his emails and documents and guides him through sending or printing them.

“I use Find My Friends to tell me when my wife is near my office so I can go out and meet her,” Woodbridge says, “and the Remote app for the Apple TV lets me check on our boys when they tell me their TV program is ‘almost finished, dad’.”

Free Wife Eye

Todd Cranmore — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 21:43:51 +0000

A patient brought this in this week…

(For a largerized version of this cartoon, click on any eye patch.)

Retinal Implant to let Visually Impaired see Braille

Todd Cranmore — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 22:41:11 +0000

A new device is being tested that would allow a visually impaired person “read” what they see around them. The device would transmit braille to an implant in the individual’s brain. The individual would then be able to get braille information about their surroundings. Interesting things on the horizon!

Read the full article on NBC News here.

Lauren Scruggs Reveals New Prosthetic Eye and Arm

Todd Cranmore — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 19:32:07 +0000

Lauren Scruggs is a model who was injured when she walked into a propeller after disembarking an airplane. She was gravely injured, losing her eye and part of her arm. She did several interviews earlier this month. Her outlook and perspective on this loss is quite remarkable, thanks Lauren for sharing your struggle and the source of your strength! Check out one of the 3 news reports below.

Today News

abc News

People Magazine

Huge Eyeball Washes up on Florida Beach

Todd Cranmore — Fri, 12 Oct 2012 22:01:31 +0000

This one caught my eye! A softball sized eyeball from some kind of marine animal washed up on a florida beach.

“MIAMI (AP) – It’s not that body parts never wash ashore on Florida beaches. But usually it’s not an eye the size of a softball.

State wildlife officials are trying to determine the species of a blue eyeball found by a man Wednesday at Pompano Beach, north of Fort Lauderdale.

They put the eyeball on ice so it can be analyzed at the Florida Fish and Wildlife Research Institute in St. Petersburg.

Agency spokeswoman Carli Segelson says the eyeball likely came from a marine animal, since it was found on a beach. Possible candidates include a giant squid, a whale or some type of large fish.”

Check out the full article here on the Komo 4 news site.

Blind Swimmer Brad Snyder Wins Gold in Paralympics

Todd Cranmore — Tue, 18 Sep 2012 20:39:10 +0000

Olympic swimming looks like incredibly difficult work. In addition to trying to cruise through the water at amazing speeds, swimmers have to somehow figure out a way to see what they’re doing. Four years ago at the Beijing Olympics, Michael Phelps spoke about how challenging it was to win one of his gold medals after his goggles filled with water the second he dove into the pool. What is an already tall task becomes seemingly impossible without vision, which is what makes the story of Navy Lt. Brad Snyder so amazing.

Snyder lost his eyesight a year ago while serving in Afghanistan after stepping on on a hidden bomb. According to NBCNews.com, he initially thought he had blood or dirt in his eyes before his worst fears were realized. On Friday night, Snyder got back in the pool in search of a gold medal in London — and got it, one that would bring his total up to three medals (two gold, one silver) at the Paralympics.

Read full article here.