Vivasight

VivaSight (Digital PhotoRefractor or DPR). We have developed a device that we expect will modernize screening of pre-verbal and pre-literate children for ocular disorders.  This type of screening is increasingly required by state governments prior to enrollment in the public school system.  Our scientists are collaborating with physicians and clinicians at University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics Department of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences to develop a clinic-ready device.

Data from the National Eye Institute (NEI) states that 2.3 million children have undiagnosed eye disorders that can lead to blindness if left untreated.  Amblyopia, commonly known as “lazy eye”, is the leading cause of monocular vision loss in the 20 to 70+ age range.  It causes more vision loss than diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma, macular degeneration, and cataracts. Amblyopia occurs when the optical powers of the two eyes are different and the brain favors the visual signal from one eye, functionally ignoring the vision in the amblyopic eye. According to the NEI, an estimated 300,000 to 750,000 children between the ages of three to five suffer from amblyopia.  Visual acuity develops principally during the pre-school years, from birth to about five years old, as a child’s visual experience molds its genetic blueprint into its adult visual sensory system. If treatment is not initiated during the visual maturation period, the prognosis for normal visual development is poor.  Amblyopia can be reversed and cured if it is detected and treated during the critical visual development period. Unfortunately, less than 21% of preschool children receive some form of vision screening each year. Even those who are screened are often improperly screened by a general health practitioner, pediatrician or screening volunteer due to inadequate experience and lack of equipment or techniques for an assiduous exam. Some children receive proper eye exams once they start school; unfortunately by then it may be too late to effectively treat amblyopia.

Our DPR has been designed with ongoing end-user input to produce a device that will readily penetrate and gain wide acceptance in the vision screening market.  Most importantly our DPR offers all screening programs a low cost device with a high sensitivity and specificity. This device will streamline the screening process by the following: 1) Eliminate recurring cost of Polaroid film, 2) Instantaneously image a subject across two meridians of strabismus and refractive error,  3) Detect improper subject fixation, 4) Digitize and automate the interpretation process, 5) Quantify the image interpretation and adjust the referral criteria based upon screening demographics to achieve predetermined levels of sensitivity and specificity, and 6) Give an instant refer/do not refer response to the screener.  This device is currently in clinical testing and is in Phase II of the development process.  On May 5, 2009, the National Institute of Health through the National Eye Institute awarded us a Phase I Small Business Innovation Research Award grant in the amount of $112,912 to conduct research related to the development of the our DPR and the detection of amblyogenic risk factors.