ophthalmology

A team has developed a wearable designed to aid navigation for people who are blind or visually impaired. The system uses artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms to probe the environment and send signals to the wearer when approaching an obstacle or object. The technology, which is presented in Nature Machine Intelligence, was tested with humanoid robots and blind and partially sighted participants in both virtual and real environments.

Glaucoma is the leading cause of irreversible blindness worldwide and one of its potential risk factors is high myopia. Its early diagnosis is crucial, but also difficult due to the absence of symptoms. With the help of experts, we answer the main questions about this eye disease.

A meta-analysis that included 45 studies involving more than 330,000 people has analysed the association between the time spent exposed to digital screens and the risk of developing myopia. The results of the study, published in JAMA Network Open, show that the risk of myopia increased significantly by just over 20% for every hour of daily use after the first hour.

Using genetic data from more than 340,000 participants of European descent, research has identified five genetic variants that make people more susceptible to myopia in combination with intensive schooling, especially university studies. The results are published in PLOS Genetics.