In January 2000, Review of Optometry began a series called “2010: An Optometric Odyssey.” It included articles on such topics as “E-Business: The Next E-volution of Your Practice,” which covered not only online buying, but also online medical records systems that, at the time, were still in their infancy.

In the February 2000 issue, the series continued with “Tomorrow’s Contact Lens Practice: Can You Adapt?” This feature explored the impact of discount LASIK on the contact lens market and how manufacturers Bausch + Lomb and CIBA Vision planned to fight back with a much-anticipated reintroduction of continuous wear lenses.

In Episode 3 of the Optometric Odyssey, optometrists and optical gurus agreed that the ophthalmic lens dispensing business needed a complete overhaul (“Putting a New Face on Ophthalmic Dispensing”). The introduction of remote tracing, for example, was hoped to shorten the average 4.3 days it took wholesale labs to complete a lens order. Likewise, the need for bundled lens options was on top of the 10-year wish list.

It’s worth dusting off your old issues of Review for a complete look at how far optometry has come in the past decade. In fact, I think you’ll find you’ve come much further than what was predicted by many of the experts who we interviewed at the time. But, nowhere is the sea change in eye care innovation more apparent than in the May 2000 issue, which marked the first year that Review of Optometry printed an ARVO Preview.

The core purpose of ARVO is to facilitate the advancement of vision research and the prevention and cure of disorders of the visual system worldwide. To that end, the association holds its annual meeting every spring in Fort Lauderdale (though the location is set to rotate beginning in 2013). But, truth be told, ARVO is not the best-attended meeting for optometrists—far from it. And yet, every year since 2000, Review has devoted four feature-length articles specific to the research unveiled at this annual meeting. That’s a lot of paper to devote to a meeting that most of our readers attend only sporadically, if ever. And then it hit me. That’s exactly why we need to devote so many pages to ARVO research—because without it, few O.D.s would know about the practice-changing breakthroughs that are unveiled each year.

The annual ARVO reports are, in fact, an ongoing Optometric Odyssey of sorts, which helps keep alive this tradition of always looking ahead toward a future that will be here before we know it.

A Look Back at ARVO Highlights

2000: Breakthrough research indicates that individuals with AMD have lower levels of lutein and zeaxanthin.

2001: Several studies look at a new refractive procedure called LASEK.

2002: While PDT garners most of the attention, a research team from Cleveland believes that VEGF also shows promise.

2003: Researchers conclude that overnight corneal reshaping is safe and effective for children.

2004: OHTS data leads researchers to ask whether individuals with thinner corneas are more susceptible to glaucomatous damage.

2005: Fourth-generation fluoroquinolones may be the most effective treatment for infectious keratitis caused by MRSA.

2006: A number of studies highlight the importance of properly matching IOLs with specific patient anatomies and lifestyles.

2007: Researchers tackle the debate between Avastin and Lucentis in the treatment of AMD.

2008: PK comes under close scrutiny, as many researchers measure its efficacy versus other procedures.

2009: Numerous studies illustrate that IOLs may serve as effective drug delivery systems.