AMD primary cause of central vision loss

A recent study shared at the Meeting of the American Physical Society of Fluid Dynamic pointed towards inefficient fluid mixing of the medication and the gel within the eye being responsible for central vision loss that occurs with the wet form of AMD.

Central vision loss occurs when the center of the visual field is blurred or completely blacked out. Researchers at Caltech believe that the anti-VEGF injections used in treating the wet form of AMD does not mix effectively with the vitreous area of the eye, which is the gel-like fluid in the eye. Researchers found that applying heat to the mixture is the solution to this problem. Heat induced mixing in the vitreous facilitates the formation of a circulation flow structure and acts as the drug delivery process within the eye. The anti-VEGF medication has a limited half-life and the thermally induced mixing allows for more of the drug of high potency to reach the desired areas within the eye. No changes are necessary with the actual injection procedure but an additional heating step after the injection is required. The added benefit of thermally mixing the medication may mean a lower dose of the drug needs to be injected into the vitreous and is easily implemented.