Eye Movement Rehabilitation in Low Vision Patients

项目总结/摘要 目前，全球约有2.17亿人患有低视力，这影响了广泛的 日常生活活动，并与抑郁症和死亡率增加有关。超过一半的患者 患有影响黄斑中心凹和周围黄斑并导致 中心视力丧失（CVL）。CVL患者被迫使用偏心视力作为其受损视力的替代品。 中心凹，然而眼运动控制和视觉功能因偏心视觉而受损。这项建议 汇集了基础和临床视觉科学家在东北大学，灯塔协会和新的 英格兰验光学院，以帮助人们与CVL学会使用他们的剩余视力更多 有效地 最近的证据表明，康复方法可以帮助改善视力控制，这可能导致 改善功能结果。我们开发了新的基于反馈的方法，旨在提高 CVL患者的偏心视力训练。在一系列的研究中，我们检查了固定的康复， 控制、平滑追踪移动物体的眼球运动和扫视眼球运动， 突然改变视线我们研究了视觉反馈，暗点意识方法和 手眼协调可以改善偏心视觉使用。视力控制的改善是 用眼睛跟踪方法量化并且用敏锐度量化视觉功能的相关变化， 对比灵敏度和阅读性能。 因此，拟议的研究开发并将基础科学中最先进的方法转化为临床 应用.实现拟议的目标将提供新的和改进的康复方法 视力障碍的治疗策略。这项建议的最终目标是最大限度地提高剩余的视觉功能， 帮助视力低下的人独立生活，从而提高生活质量， 视力障碍的经济和社会负担。

Project Summary/ Abstract Approximately 217 million people worldwide currently suffer from low vision, which impact a broad range of activities of daily living and is associated with depression and increased mortality. Over half of the patients presenting for low vision services have eye disease that affects the fovea and surrounding macula and leads to central vision loss (CVL). People with CVL are forced to use eccentric vision as a substitute for their impaired fovea, however eye movement control and visual function is impaired with eccentric vision. This proposal brings together basic and clinical vision scientists at Northeastern University, the Lighthouse Guild and New England College of Optometry in order to help people with CVL to learn to use their remaining vision more effectively. Recent evidence shows that rehabilitation methods can help improve oculomotor control and this can lead to improved functional outcomes. We have developed new feedback-based methods that aim to improve eccentric vision training in patients with CVL. In a series of studies we examine rehabilitation of fixation control, smooth pursuit eye movements that track moving objects and saccadic eye movements that abruptly change the point of regard. We examine how visual feedback, scotoma awareness methods and hand-eye coordination can improve eccentric vision usage. Improvements in oculomotor control are quantified with eye tracking methods and associated changes in visual function are quantified with acuity, contrast sensitivity and reading performance. The proposed research therefore develops and translates state-of-the-art methods in basic science to clinical applications. Accomplishing the proposed aims will provide new and improved methods for rehabilitation strategies for visual impairment. The ultimate goal of this proposal is to maximize the residual visual function of people with low vision and to help them to live independently, thereby improving quality of life and minimizing the economic and social burden of visual impairment.