SBIR Phase I: Novel Vision Screening Digital Platform for Preverbal Children

这项小企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力将是，通过开发一种可靠、快速、移动和负担得起的视力筛查工具，初级保健医生能够对学龄前儿童进行早期大规模视力筛查。该工具将允许在婴儿保健访问期间整合早期视力筛查。幼儿视力问题是一个重大的公共卫生问题，仅在美国就影响了3-5%的婴儿。目前用于幼儿的视力筛查工具只是对视力的间接测量，灵敏度有限，不是定量的，过于复杂和耗时，无法使所有儿童受益。早期发现和治疗视力障碍可以改善视力治疗效果，防止早期学习发育缺陷。这个SBIR项目将增加早期视力筛查的机会，从而改善治疗和视力结果，允许在更多的情况和地点进行筛查，并产生商业上可行的、临床可靠的幼儿视力功能测量。拟议的项目将加强学龄前儿童的视力筛查数字平台，并根据现行临床标准（泰勒视力卡程序）验证测试性能和可靠性。该数字平台功能包括用户界面、可扩展测试模式和视频输出。该平台利用了固有的光动力响应（OKN）、平板电脑的移动性以及云的访问和计算能力。现有视力筛查解决方案的成本和复杂性，以及缺乏这些年轻患者的合作，限制了许多目前用于幼儿的检测方法的获取和使用。美国三分之二的学龄前儿童在入学前从未接受过眼科检查或视力筛查。提出的解决办法将增加学龄前儿童在健康婴儿保健访问期间的初级保健实践中获得早期大规模视力筛查的机会。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will be to enable early mass vision screening of preverbal children by primary care physicians as a result of the development of a reliable, rapid, mobile and affordable vision screening tool. That tool will allow the integration of early vision screening during the well baby care visits. Early childhood vision problems are a major public health issue, affecting 3-5% of infants in the US alone. The vision screening tools currently available for young children are only indirect measures of vision, have limited sensitivity, are not quantitative, too complex and, time-consuming to allow all children to benefit. Early detection and treatment of vision impairments improve vision treatment outcomes and prevents early learning development deficits. This SBIR project will increase access to vision screening at an earlier age, resulting in improved treatment and visual outcomes, allow screening in more situations and locations, and result in a commercially viable, clinically reliable measure of visual function in young children. The proposed project will enhance the vision screening digital platform for preverbal children and validate testing performance and reliability against the current clinical standard (Teller Acuity Card procedure). That digital platform functionality includes user interface, scalable testing patterns, and video output. That platform leverages the innate optokinetic response (OKN), the mobility of a tablet computer and the access and computational capability of the cloud. Cost and complexity of existing vision screening solutions and, lack of cooperation from those young patients have limited access and use of many current testing methods for young children. Two thirds of all preschool children in the US have never had an eye examination or vision screening before starting school. The proposed solution will increase the access of preverbal children to early mass vision screening in the primary care practices during the well baby care visits.