MASSACHUSETTS EYE AND EAR INFIRMARY Patent applications |
Patent application number | Title | Published |
20160029945 | VESTIBULAR TESTING - In one aspect, the disclosure features methods for estimating a vestibular function of a subject. The methods include moving the subject along a first direction parallel to the direction of gravity, receiving a first input set from the subject, the first input set indicating the subject's perception of the first direction, and estimating a first parameter related to a first vestibular function of the subject based on the first input. The methods further includes changing an orientation of the subject with respect to the earth, moving the subject along a second direction after changing the orientation of the subject, and receiving a second input set from the subject, the second input set indicating the subject's perception of the second direction. | 02-04-2016 |
20150057748 | Vision Prosthesis - A vision prosthesis includes an intra-ocular lens system having a variable focal length; and a controller that causes a change in the focal length thereof. | 02-26-2015 |
20150030568 | Use of Stem Cells to Generate Inner Ear Cells - This invention relates generally to methods and compositions for inducing stem cell or progenitor cell differentiation, and more particularly to methods and compositions for inducing differentiation of stem cells and/or progenitor cells into cells that function within the inner ear. | 01-29-2015 |
20140357570 | COMPOSITIONS COMPRISING NECROSIS INHIBITORS, SUCH AS NECROSTATINS, ALONE OR IN COMBINATION, FOR PROMOTING AXON REGENERATION AND NERVE FUNCTION, THEREBY TREATING CNS DISORDERS - Provided are methods for promoting axon regeneration of a Central Nervous System (CNS) neuron and promoting nerve function following injury to a CNS neuron, for example, brain and/or spinal cord injury. Axon regeneration in a CNS neuron or nerve function following injury to a CNS neuron can be promoted by administering a necrosis inhibitor either alone or in combination with an apoptosis inhibitor to a subject suffering from a CNS disorder, wherein a symptom of the CNS disorder is axon degeneration. | 12-04-2014 |
20140328937 | Drug Delivery Systems and Use Thereof - The invention provides a microsphere formulation for the sustained delivery of an aptamer, for example, an anti-Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor aptamer, to a preselected locus in a mammal, such as the eye. In addition, the invention provides methods for making such formulations, and methods of using such formulations to deliver an aptamer to a preselected locus in a mammal. In particular, the invention provides a method for delivering the aptamer to an eye for the treatment of an ocular disorder, for example, age-related macular degeneration. | 11-06-2014 |
20140323455 | METHODS FOR PRESERVING PHOTORECEPTOR CELL VIABILITY FOLLOWING RETINAL DETACHMENT - Provided are methods for maintaining the viability of photoreceptor cells following retinal detachment. The viability of photoreceptor cells can be preserved by administering a hydrophilic bile acid (e.g., UDCA or TUDCA) to a mammal having an eye with a detached retina. Administration of the hydrophilic bile acid maintains the viability of the photoreceptor cells until such time that the retina becomes reattached to the underlying retinal pigment epithelium and choroid, thereby minimizing the loss of vision or visual acuity, which otherwise may occur as a result of the retinal detachment. | 10-30-2014 |
20140322231 | OSTEOPROTEGERIN IN NEUROPROTECTION - Methods for treating neurodegeneration, e.g., sensorineural hearing loss, or a demyelinating disease, using bisphosphonates, ERK kinase inhibitors, and osteoprotegerin (OPG) proteins or nucleic acids. | 10-30-2014 |
20140256627 | METHODS OF DELIVERING PHARMACEUTICAL AGENTS - Provided are methods of delivering at least one pharmaceutical agent to the central nervous system (CNS) of a subject, methods of treating a neurological disorder or pain in a subject that include administering at least one pharmaceutical agent onto a SEM graft in the skull base of the subject. Also provided are methods of treating a neurological disorder or pain in a subject that include forming a SEM graft in the skull base of the subject and administering at least one pharmaceutical agent onto the SEM graft in the skull base of the subject. Also provided are methods of forming a SEM graft in the skull base of a subject, compositions for administration onto a SEM graft in the skull base or into an endonasal reservoir or endonasal reservoir device in a subject, and devices for administering such compositions onto a SEM graft in the skull base of a subject. | 09-11-2014 |
20140255421 | Methods and Compositions for Treating Polyps - The invention relates generally to methods and compositions for treating sinusitis, asthma, or polyps. The invention also relates to methods and compositions for treating nasal polyps. | 09-11-2014 |
20140178407 | Methods and Compositions for Treating Conditions of the Eye - Provided are methods and compositions for treating ocular conditions characterized by the presence of unwanted choroidal neovasculature, for example, neovascular age-related macular degeneration. The selectivity and sensitivity of, for example, a photodynamic therapy (PDT)-based approach can be enhanced by combining the PDT with an anti-FasL factor, for example, an anti-FasL neutralizing antibody. | 06-26-2014 |
20140163451 | Methods and Compositions for Treating Conditions of the Eye - Provided are methods and compositions for the photodynamic therapy (PDT) of ocular conditions characterized by the presence of unwanted choroidal neovasculature, for example, neovascular age-related macular degeneration. The selectivity and sensitivity of the PDT method can be enhanced by combining the PDT with an anti-angiogenesis factor, for example, angiostatin or endostatin, or with an apoptosis-modulating factor. Furthermore, the selectivity and sensitivity of the PDT may be further enhanced by coupling a targeting moiety to the photosensitizer so as to target the photosensitizer to choroidal neovasculature. | 06-12-2014 |
20140134136 | COMPOSITIONS AND METHODS FOR AUDITORY THERAPY - The invention provides compositions for inducing expression in hair cells, and provides methods of using these compositions for modulating cochlear expression. Such compositions are further useful in treatment of sensorineural hearing loss, e.g., increasing proliferation or survival of mechanosensory hair cells. | 05-15-2014 |
20140088182 | INFLAMMATORY EYE DISEASE - The present invention provides methods, kits and compositions for treating uveitis in a subject using Hsp90 inhibitors. | 03-27-2014 |
20140004510 | METHODS AND COMPOSITIONS FOR PROGNOSING AND/OR DETECTING AGE-RELATED MACULAR DEGENERATION | 01-02-2014 |
20130209570 | DRUG DELIVERY SYSTEMS AND USE THEREOF - The invention provides a microsphere formulation for the sustained delivery of an aptamer, for example, an anti-Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor aptamer, to a preselected locus in a mammal, such as the eye. In addition, the invention provides methods for making such formulations, and methods of using such formulations to deliver an aptamer to a preselected locus in a mammal. In particular, the invention provides a method for delivering the aptamer to an eye for the treatment of an ocular disorder, for example, age-related macular degeneration. | 08-15-2013 |
20130122017 | Osteoprotegerin in Neuroprotection - Methods for treating neurodegeneration, e.g., sensorineural hearing loss, or a demyelinating disease, using bisphosphonates, ERK kinase inhibitors, and osteoprotegerin (OPG) proteins or nucleic acids. | 05-16-2013 |
20130122016 | Methods and Compositions for Prognosing, Detecting, and Treating Age-Related Macular Degeneration - The invention provides methods and compositions for determining whether a subject is at risk of developing age-related macular degeneration, for example, the wet or neovascular form of age-related macular degeneration. The method involves determining whether the subject has a protective variant and/or a risk variant at a polymorphic site in the HTRA1 gene. In addition, the invention provides a method of treating or slowing the progression of age-related macular degeneration by reducing the expression of the HTRA1 gene, or reducing the biological activity of the HTRA1 gene product. | 05-16-2013 |
20130034588 | CHLAMYDIA PNEUMONIAE ASSOCIATED CHRONIC INTRAOCULAR DISORDERS AND TREATMENT THEREOF - Infection by | 02-07-2013 |
20120239144 | Aberration-Correcting Vision Prosthesis - A vision prosthesis includes an optical element having a characteristic function associated with refraction therethrough. The characteristic function is selected to reduce aberration in an eye when the optical element is implanted at a location therein. | 09-20-2012 |
20120115925 | Allelic Variants Associated with Advanced Age-Related Macular Degeneration - The invention relates to allelic variants and haplotypes of the Complement Factor H (CFH) gene, the Complement Component 3 (C3) gene, and the Complement Factor D (CFD) gene, associated with either an elevated or a reduced risk that an individual will develop age-related macular degeneration (AMD), methods of diagnosing such risk in an individual based on the presence or absence of such variants, and methods and reagents for diagnosis and treatment of AMD. | 05-10-2012 |
20110294121 | METHODS AND COMPOSITIONS FOR PROGNOSING, DETECTING, AND TREATING AGE-RELATED MACULAR DEGENERATION - The invention provides methods and compositions for determining whether a subject is at risk of developing age-related macular degeneration, for example, the wet or neovascular form of age-related macular degeneration. The method involves determining whether the subject has a protective variant and/or a risk variant at a polymorphic site in the HTRA1 gene. In addition, the invention provides a method of treating or slowing the progression of age-related macular degeneration by reducing the expression of the HTRA1 gene, or reducing the biological activity of the HTRA1 gene product. | 12-01-2011 |
20100292758 | OPTICAL STIMULATION OF THE BRAINSTEM AND/OR MIDBRAIN, INCLUDING AUDITORY AREAS - Apparatus and method for optical- or optical-and-electrical stimulation of midbrain and/or brainstem tissue (e.g., auditory nerve pathways). Peripheral neural stimulation using infrared lasers has been demonstrated in several systems; however, optical stimulation of the central nervous system (CNS) has not been previously described. In some embodiments of the present invention, radiant energy exposure of the cochlear nucleus using a mid-wavelength infrared laser generates optically-evoked auditory brainstem responses (oABRs). In an experiment, the cochlear nuclei of adult male Sprague-Dawley rats were exposed using a suboccipital craniotomy approach. In one embodiment, different regions of left cochlear nucleus were acutely stimulated with a 200- or 400-micron-diameter optical fiber placed on the surface of the brainstem, using 50- to 750-microsecond pulses of 1849-nm to 1865-nm-wavelength radiation at a rate of 10 to 40 Hz and power levels ranging from 10% to 80% of 5 watts. oABRs were recorded during the period of optical stimulation. | 11-18-2010 |
20100239637 | CONTACT LENS DRUG DELIVERY DEVICE - The present invention relates generally to devices and methods for administering one or more active agents to the eye of a human or animal patient in need thereof, and more particularly to devices for application to the cornea which release active agent to the eye in a controlled manner. | 09-23-2010 |
20100094137 | METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR OBSERVATION OF TYMPANIC FUNCTION - Methods and systems for endoscopic observation of tympanic function. | 04-15-2010 |