Ability of Head-Mounted Display Technology to Improve Mobility in People With Low Vision: A Systematic Review.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to undertake a systematic literature review on how vision enhancements, implemented using head-mounted displays (HMDs), can improve mobility, orientation, and associated aspects of visual function in people with low vision.

Methods: The databases Medline, Chinl, Scopus, and Web of Science were searched for potentially relevant studies. Publications from all years until November 2018 were identified based on predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria.

Functional Imaging of the Outer Retinal Complex using High Fidelity Imaging Retinal Densitometry.

We describe a new technique, high fidelity Imaging Retinal Densitometry (IRD), which probes the functional integrity of the outer retinal complex. We demonstrate the ability of the technique to map visual pigment optical density and synthesis rates in eyes with and without macular disease. A multispectral retinal imaging device obtained precise measurements of retinal reflectance over space and time.

The Effect of Systemic Hyperoxia and Hypoxia on Scotopic Thresholds in People with Early and Intermediate Age-related Macular Degeneration.

: Morphological retinal changes combined with functional evidence implicate hypoxia in the pathogenesis of age-related macular degeneration (AMD). However, the role of hypoxia in the scotopic threshold deficit reported in AMD has not been investigated. This study compared scotopic thresholds in participants with early and intermediate AMD recorded under conditions of systemic hypoxia, hyperoxia and normoxia.

Microperimetry in Age-Related Macular Degeneration: An Evidence-Base for Pattern Deviation Probability Analysis in Microperimetry.

Purpose: The "traffic light" color designation of differential light sensitivity used in a number of microperimeters does not encompass the conventional Total and Pattern Deviation probability analyses adopted by standard automated perimetry. We determined whether the color designation is indicative of abnormality as represented by the "gold standard" Pattern Deviation probability analysis.

Methods: Total and Pattern Deviation probability levels, using two different methods, were derived at each of 40 stimulus locations, within 7° eccentricity, from 66 ocular healthy individuals (66 eyes) who had undergone microperimetry with the Macular Integrity Assessment microperimeter.

The Relationship Between the Photopic Negative Response and Retinal Ganglion Cell Topography.

Purpose: To assess the topographic relationship between the photopic negative response (PhNR) and retinal ganglion cell distribution in healthy individuals.

Method: Data was recorded from 16 healthy participants. The amplitude of PhNRs obtained in response to focal long duration (250 ms) and brief flash (5 ms), red (660 nm) on blue (469 nm) stimuli of increasing size (5° - full field) were measured.

An automated segmentation approach to calibrating infantile nystagmus waveforms.

Infantile nystagmus (IN) describes a regular, repetitive movement of the eyes. A characteristic feature of each cycle of the IN eye movement waveform is a period in which the eyes are moving at minimal velocity. This so-called "foveation" period has long been considered the basis for the best vision in individuals with IN.

Depressive symptoms in people with vision impairment: a cross-sectional study to identify who is most at risk.

Objective: To identify the risk factors for significant depressive symptoms in people with visual impairment in England and Wales to provide information on who is most at risk and to whom support services could be targeted in future.

Design: A cross-sectional study using baseline data from a pragmatic randomised controlled trial.

Setting And Participants: 990 participants aged 18 or over attending 1 of 14 low-vision rehabilitation primary care optometry-based clinics in South Wales or two hospital clinics in London.

An Evaluation of a Battery of Functional and Structural Tests as Predictors of Likely Risk of Progression of Age-Related Macular Degeneration.

Purpose: To evaluate the ability of visual function and structural tests to identify the likely risk of progression from early/intermediate to advanced AMD, using the Age-Related Eye Disease Study (AREDS) simplified scale as a surrogate for risk of progression. The secondary aim was to determine the relationship between disease severity grade and the observed functional and structural deficits.

Methods: A total of 100 participants whose AMD status varied from early to advanced were recruited.

Low-Level Nighttime Light Therapy for Age-Related Macular Degeneration: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Purpose: To investigate the safety, acceptability, and effectiveness of light therapy on the progression of AMD over 12 months.

Methods: This was a phase I/IIa, prospective, proof-of-concept, single-center, unmasked randomized controlled trial. Sixty participants (55 to 88 years) with early AMD in the study eye and neovascular AMD (nAMD) in the fellow eye were recruited from a hospital nAMD clinic.

The use of microperimetry in assessing visual function in age-related macular degeneration.

Microperimetry is a novel technique for assessing visual function that appears particularly suitable for age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Compared with standard automated perimetry, microperimetry offers several unique features. It simultaneously images the fundus, incorporates an eye-tracking system to correct the stimulus location for fixation loss, and identifies any preferred retinal loci.

The Effect of Gaze Angle on Visual Acuity in Infantile Nystagmus.

Purpose: Most individuals with infantile nystagmus (IN) have an idiosyncratic gaze angle at which their nystagmus intensity is minimized. Some adopt an abnormal head posture to use this "null zone," and it has therefore long been assumed that this provides people with nystagmus with improved visual acuity (VA). However, recent studies suggest that improving the nystagmus waveform could have little, if any, influence on VA; that is, VA is fundamentally limited in IN.

Effect of a Home Visit-Based Low Vision Rehabilitation Intervention on Visual Function Outcomes: An Exploratory Randomized Controlled Trial.

Purpose: To examine the effect of a home visit-based visual rehabilitation intervention on: (1) self-reported visual function and (2) depression, wellbeing, loneliness, adjustment to visual loss, and generic health-related quality of life.

Methods: In an exploratory, assessor-masked, individually randomized, single-center controlled trial, 67 participants (age: 75.22 ± 16.

Automated Retinal Layer Segmentation Using Spectral Domain Optical Coherence Tomography: Evaluation of Inter-Session Repeatability and Agreement between Devices.

Retinal and intra-retinal layer thicknesses are routinely generated from optical coherence tomography (OCT) images, but on-board software capabilities and image scaling assumptions are not consistent across devices. This study evaluates the device-independent Iowa Reference Algorithms (Iowa Institute for Biomedical Imaging) for automated intra-retinal layer segmentation and image scaling for three OCT systems. Healthy participants (n = 25) underwent macular volume scans using a Cirrus HD-OCT (Zeiss), 3D-OCT 1000 (Topcon), and a non-commercial long-wavelength (1040nm) OCT on two occasions.

Psychosocial interventions to improve mental health in adults with vision impairment: systematic review and meta-analysis.

Purpose: To systematically assess the literature on psychosocial interventions to improve mental health (i.e. depression, anxiety, mental fatigue, loneliness, psychological stress and psychological well-being) in visually impaired adults (≥18 years).

Depression in Visual Impairment Trial (DEPVIT): A Randomized Clinical Trial of Depression Treatments in People With Low Vision.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to compare two interventions for depression, problem solving treatment (PST) and referral to the patient's physician, with a waiting-list control group in people with sight loss and depressive symptoms.

Methods: This was an assessor-masked, exploratory, multicenter, randomized clinical trial, with concurrent economic analysis. Of 1008 consecutive attendees at 14 low-vision rehabilitation centers in Britain, 43% (n = 430) screened positive for depressive symptoms on the Geriatric Depression Scale and 85 of these attendees participated in the trial.

Effect of rehabilitation worker input on visual function outcomes in individuals with low vision: study protocol for a randomised controlled trial.

Background: Visual Rehabilitation Officers help people with a visual impairment maintain their independence. This intervention adopts a flexible, goal-centred approach, which may include training in mobility, use of optical and non-optical aids, and performance of activities of daily living. Although Visual Rehabilitation Officers are an integral part of the low vision service in the United Kingdom, evidence that they are effective is lacking.

Electrophysiological ON and OFF Responses in Autosomal Dominant Optic Atrophy.

Purpose: To assess the effect of autosomal dominant optic atrophy (ADOA) on ON and OFF retinal ganglion cell (RGC) function by evaluating the ON and OFF components of the photopic negative response (PhNR).

Methods: Twelve participants from six families with OPA1 ADOA and 16 age-matched controls were recruited. Electrophysiological assessment involved pattern ERGs (PERGs), focal (20°) and full-field long-duration (250 ms) flash ERGs using a red light-emitting diode flash on a rod-saturating blue background, and full-field brief (300 μs) xenon flash ERGs using a red filter over a continuous rod saturating blue background.

Stepped care for depression and anxiety in visually impaired older adults: multicentre randomised controlled trial.

Study Question: Is stepped care compared with usual care effective in preventing the onset of major depressive, dysthymic, and anxiety disorders in older people with visual impairment (caused mainly by age related eye disease) and subthreshold depression and/or anxiety?

Methods: 265 people aged ≥50 were randomly assigned to a stepped care programme plus usual care (n=131) or usual care only (n=134). Supervised occupational therapists, social workers, and psychologists from low vision rehabilitation organisations delivered the stepped care programme, which comprised watchful waiting, guided self help based on cognitive behavioural therapy, problem solving treatment, and referral to a general practitioner. The primary outcome was the 24 month cumulative incidence (seven measurements) of major depressive dysthymic and/or anxiety disorders (panic disorder, agoraphobia, social phobia, and generalised anxiety disorder).

Visual Processing in Infantile Nystagmus Is Not Slow.

Purpose: Treatments for infantile nystagmus (IN) sometimes elicit subjective reports of improved visual function, yet quantifiable improvements in visual acuity, if any, are often negligible. One possibility is that these subjective "improvements" may relate to temporal, rather than spatial, visual function. This study aimed to ascertain the extent to which "time to see" might be increased in nystagmats, as compared to normally sighted controls.

An evaluation of two candidate functional biomarkers for AMD.

Purpose: To evaluate the intersession repeatability of the Colour Assessment and Diagnosis (CAD) test and a novel 14-Hz flicker test in a population of healthy participants to provide benchmark data for their use as functional biomarkers for age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

Methods: Visual function was assessed using both techniques in 30 healthy adults (mean [standard deviation] age 36.3 [14.

Low-level night-time light therapy for age-related macular degeneration (ALight): study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.

Background: Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of blindness among older adults in the developed world. The only treatments currently available, such as ranibizumab injections, are for neovascular AMD, which accounts for only 10 to 15% of people with the condition. Hypoxia has been implicated as one of the primary causes of AMD, and is most acute at night when the retina is most metabolically active.

How effective is eccentric viewing training? A systematic literature review.

Purpose: The global prevalence of age-related macular degeneration and associated central vision loss is rising. Central vision loss hinders the performance of many activities of daily living. Adaptive strategies such as eccentric viewing and steady eye strategy may be used to compensate for central vision loss.

Grating visual acuity in infantile nystagmus in the absence of image motion.

Purpose: Infantile nystagmus (IN) consists of largely horizontal oscillations of the eyes that usually begin shortly after birth. The condition is almost always associated with lower-than-normal visual acuity (VA). This is assumed to be at least partially due to motion blur induced by the eye movements.