Perspectives Winter/Spring-2017

38 • NOVA SOUTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY The College of Health Care Sciences was well repre- sented at the Society for Vascular Ultrasound (SVU) 39th Annual Conference held in August in Chicago, Illinois. During the symposium, a faculty member, an alumna, and a student made presentations. Patricia Vargas, D.H.Sc., RVT, assistant professor and clinical coordinator of the Medical Sonography Program, presented on the topic “Improved Ocular Blood Flow in the Central Retinal Artery During a Randomized Controlled Trial of Electro-Stimulation Therapies for Retinitis Pigmentosa.” The randomized controlled study was an interprofessional research project conducted with medical sonography assistant professors Jorge Han, M.D., RDMS, RDCS, RVT, and Deborah Mendelsohn, M.S., RDMS, RDCS, RVT, and College of Optometry faculty member Ava Bittner, O.D., Ph.D., FAAO, who served as the study’s principal investigator. The study was a three-arm, double-blind, randomized, controlled trial, which was funded by the National Institutes of Health and the NSU President’s Faculty Research and Development Grant Program. Because there is no current treatment for retinitis pigmentosa (RP) patients, this clinical trial attempted to provide management or treatment options for patients with RP. The study’s objective was to slow down the progression of the visual disability by treating the patients with transcorneal electrical stimulation and acupuncture treatments. Medical sonography’s role measured the ocular blood flow pre and post treatments. Blood-flow velocities were reliable and correlated to the amount of sight the patient maintained. During the conference, Vargas received the Excellence in Oral Clinical Presen- tation Award for her aforementioned presentation. Trio Gives Presentations Medical Sonography FORT LAUDERDALE Kayla Wieseckel at Chicago Symposium