Rapid detection and monitoring of visual field loss at home or in the clinic with simple instrumentation

A kit that lay individuals or healthcare practitioners can use on a tablet or other mobile device to evaluate visual field loss using a rapid, self-administered test.

The Need

Individuals with diseases affecting the eye or brain are susceptible to losing parts of their visual field of view. The loss can be central (e.g. AMD), peripheral (e.g. glaucoma) or sectoral (e.g. stroke). Although there are therapy options to address such visual field loss, compromised vision can go undiagnosed for long periods of time, allowing substantial progression of disease and field loss before detection and treatment. A contributing factor to this neglect is that individuals may have compromised vision in one eye with an intact visual field at the same area in the contralateral eye. The normal eye can therefore mask or accommodate the condition.

Eye doctors often routinely measure the extent, if any, of a patient's visual field loss to make diagnostic and therapeutic decisions. However, conventional protocols for such measurements typically require complex instrumentation and are performed by trained professionals at a doctor's office. Thus, there is a substantial need for an accurate screening device and procedure for rapid visual field assessment that does not necessitate a visit to the doctor's office, employs simple instrumentation such as a mobile device, and can be self-administered.

The Technology

Dr. Teng Leng Ooi, a researcher at the Ohio State University College of Optometry, has created a technology that can be used by a patient or healthcare practitioner to assess visual field defects quickly and accurately at home or in clinic. The testing kit consists of a software program that can be readily downloaded to a laptop, tablet or other mobile device along with inexpensive eyewear providing either colorized or polarizing lenses for each eye. The system concurrently presents dissimilar visual scenes to each eye. Areas of visual field loss or defects are immediately recognizable on the display and can be marked or outlined on the screen by the individual using a standard hand-held pointing device. This marked-up field map can then be stored and printed or emailed to a healthcare practitioner. Proof of concept for this technology in human subjects has been achieved including on-same-screen comparison with data from parallel testing with the gold standard Humphrey Visual Field Analyzer.

Commercial Applications

  • Rapid, accurate and inexpensive at-home detection/monitoring of visual field loss or defects
  • Can augment or, for certain purposes, replace existing in-clinic visual field testing protocols/practices
  • Highly portable for use in varied locations (e.g., drug stores, nursing homes)

Benefits/Advantages

  • No complex instrumentation and easily self-administered by lay individuals
  • Affordable package (software, eyewear) designed for operation on laptops, tablets, smartphones
  • Simultaneously and rapidly (in seconds) assesses all regions of an individual's field of vision
  • Clear presentation of areas of field loss easily apparent to user
  • Loss or defect areas can be marked up by user with a standard input drawing pen for storage and transmission to healthcare provider if desired

Loading icon