Occuity joins the global ophthalmology community at AAO in New Orleans

Innovation, jazz and a taste of New Orleans: Occuity at AAO

New Orleans has a character all of its own. Famous for jazz, it felt a fitting setting for a conference focused on new ideas in eye care. Its combination of technical skill, creativity and willingness to try something different certainly struck a chord with me. Those are qualities I see every day in the team at Occuity.

I was there for the American Academy of Ophthalmology’s annual meeting, joining our Latin American distribution partner, ALT Medical, to showcase the PM1 Pachymeter and AX1 Axiometer.

The three-day exhibition brought together ophthalmologists, researchers and industry professionals from around the world. Major companies including Essilor, ZEISS and Topcon had large stands showcasing the latest developments in eye care, and it was a great opportunity to introduce visitors to Occuity’s handheld, non-contact technology.

I demonstrated both devices to visitors from Peru, Chile, Brazil, Mexico and Argentina and of course the US. Our Indian distributor, Remidio, also had the PM1 and AX1 on its stand, so there were several opportunities for visitors to get hands-on experience of our devices.

Beyond the exhibition, I discovered that New Orleans is also famous for its beignets. Pronounced “ben-YAYS”, these fluffy fried doughnuts come with a generous dusting of icing sugar.

I was also lucky enough to have the time to visit the famous Café du Monde and brought back some coffee and beignet mix for the Occuity team to try. The coffee contains roasted chicory, which "adds body, softens the bitterness of the dark roast and gives it an almost chocolatey flavour with milk". I liked it!

Turning the mix into beignets now depends on a willing colleague with some culinary creativity and, ideally, a deep-fat fryer. I’m hoping someone takes up the challenge so we can share a little taste of New Orleans back in Reading.

Thank you to the ALT Medical team for hosting me, to Remidio for its support, and to everyone who stopped by to discover more about Occuity.