Novel portable treatment device for lazy eye

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

Our goal is to develop a prototype device for take-home use that can be used in the treatment of amblyopia (otherwise known as "lazy eye"). The therapeutic scenario we envision involves patients first visiting a clinic, where their vision parameters are assessed and suitable parameters are determined for therapy. Patients then proceed with the actual therapeutic treatment on their own, using a take-home system we will prototype. This system consists of a small (hand-held) computing device such as a portable digital assistant (PDA) or ultra-mobile personal computer (UMPC) that runs a modified game application. Our rationale for choosing to develop the prototype around a game stems from multiple requirements that such an application satisfies. First, system operation must be sufficiently straightforward that ease-of-use is not an obstacle. Second, the application itself should be compelling and motivate use more so than a traditional therapeutic task, in particular for children, if it is to be used regularly outside of the clinic. This is a key point as compliance is a major issue for current treatments of childhood amblyopia (no current treatments are available for adults).