Update on Pediatric Vision Scanner That Offers Breakthrough Method of Detecting Any Form of Amblyopia in Small Children
July 14, 2011
Several months ago we reported on a new device, called the Pediatric Vision Scanner, which uses a laser beam to measure the alignment of children’s eyes (New Device Detects Lazy Eye and Strabismus in Preschoolers). Now we bring you newly released details on clinical testing of the device.
Lazy eye, or amblyopia, is one of the main reasons for loss of vision in children, and it affects 3-5% of kids. It entails a misalignment of the eyes, or alternatively where one eye is weaker at focusing than the other. Both result in one eye being used more than the other, which erodes the ability of the underused eye. The condition should ideally be treated before the age of three for a complete correction to be possible.
The problem is that lazy eye is very hard to detect since small children cannot communicate what they are seeing or be tested by reading eye charts.
The Pediatric Vision Scanner uses a laser beam to measure the alignment of the eyes. The children simply look at a red light for 2.5 seconds. While designed to detect strabismus, in recent clinical testing, researchers were surprised to find that the device could also detect any form of amblyopia, which is makes an accurate referral even more possible. Overall, the scanner could detect strabismus or amblyopia with a specificity of 96%.
Developed at Children’s Hospital Boston by Dr. David Hunter and his collaborators, the scanner is the product of 20 years of research and is now being tested in clinics.
To see a press release about the Pediatric Vision Scanner, click here.
For a YouTube video of Dr. Hunter describing the development of the scanner, click here.
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2 Responses to “Update on Pediatric Vision Scanner That Offers Breakthrough Method of Detecting Any Form of Amblyopia in Small Children”
i agree with you-i dont quite understand how this device works. i was not able to find much detail via google. perhaps the device detects alignment as well as refractive error, like an auto-refractor.
Since amblyopia may be caused by many other factors other than strabismus, I’m curious what the breakdown of the “specificity of 96%” is between amblyopia and strabismus? Also, I wonder how a scanner looking at the alignment of a child’s eyes may be able to pick up something like a refraction problem that often leads to amblyopia?
