Dr. Marc Biarnés reaffirms the role of opticians and optometrists in the fight against AMD

The Institut de la Màcula’s coordinator of clinical trials and clinical epidemiology, Dr. Marc Biarnés, has published a scientific article in which he stresses the need for opticians and optometrists to recognise the signs and symptoms of AMD so that they can refer patients to ophthalmologists correctly. Writing in the Gaceta de Optometría y Óptica Oftálmica, the official journal of the National College of Opticians and Optometrists, Dr. Biarnés also identifies the elements that define AMD with regard to epidemiology, classification, assessment and treatment.

Dr. Biarnés says that in a few years there could be treatments for geographic atrophy, the advanced state of the pathology for which no effective medication currently exists

Dr. Biarnés recalls that for the past 15 years we have been able to prevent the intermediate AMD from progressing to neovascular AMD through treatment with antioxidants and in the past decade we have been able to treat neovascular AMD with antiangiogenics. He says that in a few years there could be treatments for geographic atrophy, the advanced state of the pathology for which no effective medication currently exists.

Biarnés, who is also a researcher for the Barcelona Macula Foundation (BMF), notes the recent developments in image capturing techniques for the posterior segment of the eye, many of which may be applied to AMD. He goes on to highlight LITE, hybrid equipment that uses adaptive optics and enables retinal images to be taken with cellular precision. LITE has been developed with European funds from the Seventh Framework Programme of the European Union and of the Catalan Agency for Business Competitiveness, ACCIÓ, with the intervention of the Institut de la Màcula in close collaboration with the Institute of Photonic Sciences (ICFO), among others.

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