The new internet platform www.navilas.com informs diabetics and their relatives comprehensively about vision-threatening retinal diseases, the necessity of preventive examinations, standard treatment options and modern, navigated laser therapy with Navilas®.

Navilas® is the only digital retinal laser that uses eye-tracking technology. The benefits for patients: Effective treatment to maintain vision with less pain¹ and less subsequent treatments^2-4.

Many diabetics develop a retinal disease affecting blood vessels during their lifetime. The severe form of the so-called proliferative diabetic retinopathy (DR) is listed amongst the major causes of blindness worldwide⁵. 10 % of diabetic patients are affected by a vision-threatening form of DR⁶ amounting to 40 million people worldwide based on the current WHO Global Report on Diabetes⁷. These numbers are rising as the incidence of diabetes increases with an aging population and the growing number of overweight people⁷.

Patients affected by diabetic retinopathy do not have any symptoms at an early stage, thus education about the course of the disease and about treatment options is particularly important. Thereby, patients are sensitized for regular ophthalmological checks. This is important as early detection of retinopathy allows timely treatment and may reduce the risk of blindness.

To treat diabetic retinopathy, regular injections into the eye may often be applied. These have shown to be successful in stabilizing or improving vision, but in many cases have to be repeated chronically, sometimes monthly and over several years. This leads to a high burden for patients and their relatives.

Photocoagulation with retinal lasers has shown long term effects of stabilizing visual outcomes⁸. However, conventional slit lamp based systems have a limited field of view, so the laser application is often tedious and inaccurate, requiring several retreatments, and thus being less effective, while frequently inducing pain to the patient ¹.

With the navigated Navilas® Laser System for the retina, the doctor can for the first time plan the treatment completely and accurately on digital diagnostic images and then - assisted by eye-tracking - apply laser spots safely and quickly. Clinical studies show that this treatment is more comfortable and less painful for patients than conventional slit lamp lasers^1.. In addition, fewer subsequent treatment sessions of injections and laser ^2-4 are often required to maintain improved vision.

Further information on diabetic retinal diseases and the benefits of navigated laser therapy: www.navilas.com. 

¹ Pain and accuracy of focal laser treatment for diabetic macular edema using a retinal navigated laser (Navilas).  Kernt M, Cheuteu RE, Cserhati S, Seidensticker F, Liegl RG, Lang J, Haritoglou C, Kampik A, Ulbig MW, Neubauer AS. Clin Ophthalmol. 2012;06:289-96 

² Navigated macular laser decreases retreatment rate for diabetic macular edema: a comparison with conventional macular laser. Neubauer AS, Langer J, Wolf J, Kozak I, Seidensticker F, Ulbig M, Freeman WR, Kampik A, Kernt M.  Clin Ophthalmol. 2013:121-128  

³ From Art to Science in DME Treatment - A comparison of anatomical outcomes following navigated OCT-based laser and conventional focal laser treatments. Ang Li, BA; Rumneek Bedi, BA; Rishi P. Singh, MD. 

⁴ Comparative evaluation of combined navigated laser photocoagulation and intravitreal ranibizumab in the treatment of diabetic macular edema. Liegl R, Langer J, Seidensticker F, Reznicek L, Haritoglou C, Ulbig MW, Neubauer AS, Kampik A, Kernt M.  PLoS One. 2014 Dec 26;9(12)

⁵  WHO, Priority Eye Diseases: http://www.who.int/blindness/causes/priority/en/

⁶ Global prevalence and major risk factors of diabetic retinopathy. Yau, J. W., Rogers, S. L., Kawasaki, R., Lamoureux, E. L., Kowalski, J. W., Bek, T., ... & Haffner, S. (2012). Diabetes care, DC_111909. http://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/diacare/early/2012/01/25/dc11-1909.full.pdf

⁷ WHO Diabetes Report 2018: http://www.who.int/diabetes/global-report/en/

⁸ The long-term effects of laser photocoagulation treatment in patients with diabetic retinopathy: the early treatment diabetic retinopathy follow-up study. Chew, E. Y., Ferris, F. L., Csaky, K. G., Murphy, R. P., Agrón, E., Thompson, D. J., ... & Schachat, A. P. (2003). Ophthalmology, 110(9), 1683-1689.

Navilas® is developed and distributed by OD-OS GmbH, a privately held medical technology company with offices in Irvine, California, and Teltow near Berlin, Germany. www.od-os.com

Contact: Stefanie Gehrke, Director Marketing | stefanie.gehrke@od-os.com, +49 (172) 3808 537 OD-OS GmbH | Warthestr. 21 | 14513 Teltow | Deutschland