I-Corps: A Mixed Reality Solution for Diagnosis and Recovery of Visual Function Losses due to Age-related, Degenerative Eye Diseases

这个I-Corps项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是开发和翻译头戴式显示系统，为眼科护理专业人员和患者提供负担得起的，可靠的和方便的技术，用于诊断每个患者的疾病，预测进展风险，并设计有效的视力康复方案。包括视网膜神经节细胞（RGC）变性、视神经盘水肿、新生血管形成和视网膜变性的一系列病症影响人类视觉系统，并且与进行性视力威胁疾病（诸如年龄相关性黄斑变性（AMD）、糖尿病性视网膜病变（DR）、缺血性视神经病变（ION）和青光眼）相关。根据国家眼科研究所（NEI）的数据，预计到2020年，这些眼病将影响超过1400万患者。拟议技术的主要商业潜力是眼睛护理（眼科和验光）以及低视力康复治疗。此外，1400万患有多种威胁视力的视网膜或视神经疾病的患者将受益于使用拟议的技术来改善他们的日常生活功能。 视觉研究人员和研究人类视觉系统的科学家将能够使用该产品来推进有关人眼和视觉的知识，以改善美国眼睛护理的状况。以双眼方式测量缺陷，即分别针对每只眼睛。这使得所提出的技术能够独立地对每只眼睛的视力丧失进行建模。通过利用这些模型，所提出的设备适当地修改视觉刺激，以帮助患者恢复失去的视觉功能。患者也可以使用该设备进行几项功能性视力评估，以测量视野损失、颜色和对比敏感度、立体视觉和敏锐度。通过执行这些测试，所提出的设备为每个患者建立基线测量，并随着时间的推移监测患者视力丧失的状态和进展。这些测试的结果可以与患者的眼科护理提供者进行沟通，以在需要时确定合适的干预措施。该产品基于最近的研究成果，集成了从两个独立的摄像头拍摄视频并独立修改每只眼睛的视觉刺激的功能。这些功能可能会使拟议的设备成为一个宝贵的低视力援助的病人谁失去了行动能力和独立性，由于视力loss.This奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是值得通过评估使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准的支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is the development and translation of a head mounted display system that provides eye-care professionals and patients with affordable, reliable, and convenient technologies for diagnosing each individual patient’s disease, predicting progression risks, and designing effective vision rehabilitation protocols. A spectrum of conditions including retina ganglion cell (RGC) degeneration, optic disc edema, neovascularization, and retinal hemorrhaging affect the human visual system and are associated with progressive vision threatening diseases such as age-related macular degeneration (AMD), diabetic retinopathy (DR), ischemic optic neuropathy (ION), and glaucoma. According to the National Eye Institute (NEI), these eye diseases are expected to affect over 14 million patients in 2020. The main commercial potential of the proposed technology is in eye-care (ophthalmology and optometry) as well as low-vision rehabilitation therapy. In addition, 14 million patients suffering from many forms of vision-threatening retina or optic nerve diseases will benefit from using the proposed technology to improve their functions of daily living. Vision researchers and scientists who study the human visual system will be able to use the product to advance knowledge about the human eye and vision to improve the status of eye care in the U.S.This I-Corps project is based on the development of a mixed-reality product that utilizes machine learning and computer vision to model patient's perceptual-functional vision deficit. The deficits are measured in a binocular manner, i.e. for each eye separately. This makes the proposed technology capable of modeling the vision loss for each eye independently. By utilizing these models the proposed device appropriately modifies the visual stimuli to help patients recover lost visual function. The device also may be used by the patient to undertake several functional vision assessments to measure visual fields losses, color and contrast sensitivity, stereo-vision, and acuity, at home. By performing these tests, the proposed device builds baseline measures for each patient and monitors the status and progression of the patient's vision loss over time. The results of these tests may be communicated with the patient's eye care provider to determine suitable interventions when the need arises. The product is based on recent research results integrating the capabilities of taking video captures from two independent cameras and modifying the visual stimuli for each eye independently. These functionalities may make the proposed device an invaluable low-vision aid for patients who have lost mobility and independence due to vision loss.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.