Dr. Randolph Kinkade, a Connecticut low vision optometrist, offers new treatment
for macular degeneration on News8 WTNH. Spectacle Miniature Telescopes (SMTs) return vision for those with low vision.
Dr. Randolph Kinkade, Connecticut optometrist, utilizes Spectacle Miniature Telescopes (SMTs) and Implantable Miniature Telescopes (IMTs) to help patients with macular degeneration and other low vision conditions see better.
IMT Television Interview
SMT Television Interview
Condition: Macular Degeneration
A.D., age 88-years-young, has had macular degeneration for many years. She is now wearing a bioptic Spectacle Miniature Telescope for distance viewing. She can now see down the hall, enjoy viewing paintings and people's faces.
Dr. Kinkade and A.D. wearing her Bioptic Spectacle Mounted Telescope
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Condition: Macular Degeneration
A.M. is practicing CPA. His spectacle miniature telescope (tele-mircoscope) was designed to allow him to read the computer at a comfortable viewing distance. The glasses will also be beneficial for reading.
Condition: Diabetic Retinopathy J.K.'s reading SMT now allow him to see his diabetic glucose test strips and monitor (glucometer). He also uses a 5X LED hand-held magnifier to assist in reading his medicine bottles. The SMT will improve his ability to enjoy distant scenery when he and his wife travel.
Press Release New Medical
Implant Technology for Macular
Degeneration in Connecticut
Cheshire, Conn., January 22, 2013 – For patients who have been
told there is no medical treatment for their advanced macular degeneration,
there is new hope for improving the quality of life. Dr. Randolph Kinkade, a
low vision optometrist with offices in
Cheshire, Danbury, Farmington, Litchfield, Manchester, Norwalk and Waterford,
is part of the first provider team in Connecticut offering the newly FDA
approved Implantable Miniature Telescope (IMT). The IMT is a
micro-telescope implanted into the eye of patients suffering from end-stage
age-related macular degeneration, the most advanced form of AMD and the leading
cause of blindness in older Americans. More than 15 million Americans are
affected by some form of AMD. The number of Americans afflicted with macular
degeneration is expected to double with the rapid aging of the U.S. population.
“I have been fitting Spectacle Miniature Telescopes
for twenty years for patients with macular degeneration.Now we have the ability to offer potentially
better rehabilitation options we only dreamed about a few years ago.This “bionic” technology will improve vision for
some of my patients and help them achieve a greater quality of life.I am pleased and thrilled to be part of the
first provider team in Connecticut”, says Dr. Kinkade.
Patients with end-stage AMD have a central blind
spot. This vision loss makes it difficult or impossible to see faces, read, and
perform everyday activities such as watching TV, preparing meals, and
self-care. The telescope implant has been demonstrated in clinical trials to
improve quality of life by improving patients’ vision so they can see the
things that are important to them, increase their independence, and re-engage
in everyday activities.It also may help
patients in social settings as it may allow them to recognize faces and see the
facial expressions of family and friends.
Smaller than a pea, the telescope implant uses
micro-optical technology to magnify images which would normally be seen in
one’s “straight ahead” or central, vision. The images are projected onto the
healthy portion of the retina not affected by the disease, making it possible
for patients to see more detail that may have been impossible or difficult
without the implant.
The FDA approved implant is the only
medical/surgical option that improves visual acuity by reducing the impact of
the central vision blind spot caused by end-stage AMD.However, the telescope implant is not a cure
for end-stage AMD. As with any medical intervention, potential risks and complications
exist with the telescope implant. Possible side effects include decreased
vision or vision impairing corneal swelling.CentraSight, has developed a patient information booklet that highlights
the risks and benefits associated with the telescope implant and can be found
at www.CentraSight.com.
Dr. Kinkade's Educational IMT Video
As with any medical intervention, potential risks and
complications exist with the telescope implant. Possible side effects include
decreased vision or vision impairing corneal swelling. For AMD patients who are not ideal surgical
candidates, Dr. Kinkade can discuss and recommend other options, including
Spectacle Miniature Telescopes (SMTs).
Patients
and physicians can find more information and can watch a video about the
telescopic implant and related treatment program at www.lowvisioneyeglasses.comor by calling (800) 756 -0766.
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About
Dr. Kinkade
Dr. Kinkade holding an IMT
Dr. Randolph Kinkade is a founding
member of the International Academy of Low Vision Specialists.He has a Master of Public Health degree and
is the founder of Low Vision Consulting. He is co-founder of See and Hear America, a
company designed to help those with vision and or hearing loss.
Dr. Kinkade has been treating the
rehabilitation needs of patients with AMD and other vision limiting conditions
for over 30 years. He continues to study the causes and treatment of macular
degeneration from a medical and public health point of view.
He is a member of the Vision
Rehabilitation Section of the American Optometric Association and the Low
Vision Section of the American Academy of Optometry. For more information visit
http://www.lowvisioneyeglasses.com.
CentraSight
is the first-ever telescope implant for end-stage age-related macular
degeneration (AMD), the most advanced form of AMD and the leading cause of
blindness in older Americans.Patients
with end-stage AMD have a central blind spot or missing area in their vision
that makes it difficult or impossible to see faces, read, and perform everyday
activities. The CentraSight Treatment Program allows patients to see details
again by implanting a tiny telescope in the eye in an outpatient procedure,
then coordinating with vision specialists to help the patient learn how to use
their new vision for everyday activities. For more information visit www.CentraSight.com.
Dr. Randolph Kinkade, utilizes Spectacle Miniature Telescopes (SMTs) and
Implantable Miniature Telescopes (IMTs) to help patients with vision loss see better.
Dr. Kinkade's SMT Educational Video
Dr. Kinkade's IMT Educational Video
Condtion: Macular Degeneration
C.M. uses his Spectacle Miniature Telescope (SMT) to stay on the line when writing his checks and to fill in his check register. Without the reading cap the precision is set for an 8' distance to help with television viewing. He uses eccentric viewing techniques in his left eye to maximize his vision.
SMT used for writing checks
SMT used for writing in the check register
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Condition: Optic Nerve Atrophy
H.O. has had significant damage to his optic nerves
after undergoing open heart surgery and having a stroke.With practice, his reading telescopic
prescription he will regain his ability to read the newspaper with some effort.He now also uses a 3.5X LED illuminated
hand-held magnifier to see the dials on his appliances and very small
print.
Spectacle Miniature Telescope for reading with optic atrophy
He will benefit from a wide-angle bioptic telescopic prescription in his left eye for watching television and his birds.
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Condition: Macular Degeneration
T.Y. has sailed on the Intrepid, the 12-meter sailboat that won the America's Cup in 1967 and 1970. At 98 he still enjoys going out on the committee boat to watch races. He now has an improved ability to read the newspaper at an increased viewing distance with his reading telescope. Traditional high-power reading glasses require you to hold material very close to read. He reports he sees better some days than others.
98-Years-Young Spectacle Miniature Telescope (SMT) Demonstrating an Increased Reading Distance
The Implantable Miniature Telescope (IMT) is a dramatic new low vision rehabilitation option for patients with advanced macular degeneration
Artist's drawing of the Implantable Miniature Telescope
Patient's IMT
CentraSight, developed by VisionCare
Ophthalmic Technologies, is training a Connecticut team of eye care professionals consisting of an ophthalmic surgeon, a low vision optometrist (Dr. Randolph Kinkade), and an occupational therapist. Telescopes are used effectively to reduce the relative size of a patient’s central blind spot in macular degeneration, the leading cause of permanent vision loss in older Americans.
Dr. Kinkade has been fitting Spectacle
Miniature Telescopes (SMTs) successfully for over 30 years as a way to improve patients' vision. Advancements in medicine now allow telescopes to be implanted in the eye.
Dr. Kinkade and patient with an SMT
Bioptic SMT
The Implanted Eye
The implanted miniature telescope is a wide angle micro-telescope only 4mm in length --- a little longer than an eighth of an inch --- that is surgically positioned behind and through the pupil in one eye replacing a cataract in the eye.
This tiny device offers a huge benefit because it magnifies the central vision 2.2 or 3 times the normal size depending on the model used. The enlarged, improved visual images focus on healthy areas of the central retina instead of just the damaged areas of the macula,improving the ability to see detail. This helps reduce the blind spot relative to the magnified image and allows the patient to see images clearer that would have been unrecognizable or difficult to see otherwise.
The telescope is truly
a prosthetic device because it helps replace some of the precision
eyesight that has been lost. The IMT becomes part of the
eye and is the closest we have to making a bionic eye. Patients can scan and track the
entire field in front of them using natural eye movements.
The Non-Implanted Eye
The non-implanted eye provides the brain with vital
peripheral vision. Peripheral vision is a part of vision that occurs
outside the very center of sight and can be considered to be your “wide angle
vision” for taking in general surrounding information.
Although peripheral vision is never as clear as central vision, it is necessary
for moving about, detecting motion and helping with night vision.
Advanced macular degeneration affects detailed central vision in both eyes. Peripheral vision is low resolution vision (i.e., it is blurry compared to a normal healthy macula) and is not affected by macular degeneration. You can't use it to read well, but you can use it to detect objects and movement. A person uses the eye with the telescope for detailed central vision (such as reading "WALK" signs at a cross walk). The other eye is used for peripheral vision (such as checking to see if cars are coming from the side as you are crossing the street).
Pre-Surgery
After a low vision evaluation, Dr. Kinkade determines which eye the telescope will be implanted in and the power of the telescope needed to accomplish the rehabilitation goals.
IMT External Telescope Simulator (ETS)
Post-Surgery
After the device is inserted
by a specially trained ophthalmic surgeon, Dr. Kinkade prescribes glasses to maximize eyesight. Patients may still need to use a magnifier for small print and other visually-guided tasks.
The rehabilitation process continues with therapy on how to adapt and best use the enhanced vision. Rehabilitation is all about teaching the brain
new ways of seeing by using the magnified central vision of one eye and the
peripheral vision of the other eye.
Patient with IMT in his right eye
Implantable Miniature Telescopes (IMTs)
Spectacle Miniature Telescopes (SMTs)
Telescopes will make macular degeneration patients see better. How much better? That depends on the level of vision, what you want to see and do, and your ability to adapt to new ways of seeing.
This is a very exciting time for patients that up to now have been told, “Sorry, there is nothing more we can do for you.” Please call Dr. Kinkade's office to see if you, or someone you know is a candidate for the IMT or SMT.
