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Introduction: Trypan Blue is an acid azo dye commonly used as a stain to distinguish viable from non-viable cells. It is a vital stain used intra operatively during cataract surgery to stain the external surface of the anterior lens capsule for better visualization. Aim: To analyze the histomorphological effects of trypan blue on Lens Epithelial cells and the Basement Membrane on direct exposure by staining the internal surface of the anterior lens capsule during Small Incision Cataract Surgery. Methods: Analytical cross sectional case control study. Anterior capsule specimens of 14 Patients undergoing small incision cataract surgery at Department of Ophthalmology, Govt Medical College Hospital, Thrissur were studied. Two specimens of anterior capsule taken from the same eye form the case and control. Control specimen (sample A) was removed first, after the routine external staining with trypan blue 0.06% (w/v) for 10 seconds. The stain was washed off by balanced salt solution in every case. Then trypan blue was injected under the remaining anterior capsule and case (Test) specimen (sample B) was obtained after direct contact of trypan blue to the internal surface (lens epithelial cells) for 1 minute. Histomorphological (qualitative and quantitative) examination of both specimens done. Results: Qualitative data analysis was done by EPI INFO software.v.7. Intactness of LECs throughout the length was statistically significant in Sample A (p = 0.000027). Partial and complete detachment of Lens Epithelial Cells, degeneration, and nuclear smudging were significantly higher in Sample B. Qualitative analysis of the basement membrane showed significant edema of the basement membrane in sample B. Basement membrane splitting observed in sample B was not statistically significant. Quantitative data analyzed using independent t test. There was a statistically significant decrease in cell density in sample B with p value less than 0.05. Discussion: Our study demonstrated that direct staining of the internal surface of anterior capsule with trypan blue affected LECs and the basement membrane. There were reduction in cell density, irreversible degeneration of Lens Epithelial Cells and basement membrane edema. Hence treating the internal surface of capsular bag with trypan blue may reduce incidence of Posterior capsular opacification. Keywords: Lens capsule, Lens epithelial cells, Trypan blue

Amblyopia is the most common cause for preventable monocular visual loss in children. Visual system at birth is at a stage of dramatic developmental neural plasticity. Abnormal visual impulses from eyes (e.g., visual deprivation and refractive error) can affect normal anatomical and functional organization of the system. Abnormal cortical changes thus produced can be reversed if proper treatment is instituted during this time. This so-called critical period was thought to extend from birth to 7–8 years. However, now, it is understood that cortical plasticity though reduced may extend up to 6th decade of life and this accounts for increased interest in the management of adult amblyopia. Early detection and instituting treatment on detection are important for achieving better outcomes. Classical amblyopia treatment modalities include optical correction of significant refractive errors, occlusion therapy and penalization. Pharmacologic therapy, binocular therapy, and liquid crystal display eyeglasses are the newer treatment options. This review gives a simplified update of amblyopia including simplified pathophysiological concept in different types of amblyopia which will be useful to the clinician. Recent treatment options available for treatment including that in adult amblyopia are also discussed. Literature search using Google scholar, PubMed with a combination of words appropriate to this article was done and relevant articles were reviewed.

Diabetic retinopathy is a micro-vascular disease that affects the vision. People with diabetes are more likely to get affected by diabetic retinopathy. There are many screening techniques available to diagnose this pathology. Majority of this screening methods use the retinal image of the patient for the diagnosis. Recently many automatic retinal image analysis methods are being developed to automate the diagnosis of this pathology, thereby eliminating the need for a specialist ophthalmologist for such a screening. In order to evaluate the performance of any such automatic method, there is a need for a database of retinal images which could act as a reference for bench-marking the performance of the methods developed. In this paper, we discuss a new retinal image database known as University of Auckland Diabetic Retinopathy database (UoA-DR), prepared specifically for bench-marking the performance of various automatic systems developed for the diagnosis of diabetic retinopathy. This database consists of 200 retinal images mostly affected with diabetic retinopathy. This database also contains the manually segmented versions of various features obtained from these images which could act as a ground truth for algorithm's improvement to segment various features from retinal images automatically.