Abstract
Purpose: :
Current methods for assessing vision produce highly variable results when testing severely blind patients. We are attempting to develop a battery of tests to more reliably test vision in severely blind patients with ARMD and RP. Our goal is to assess the effectiveness of a retinal prosthesis as a method for treating these patients.
Methods: :
An extensive literature search was performed to review current testing methods, and we established a collaboration to incorporate custom–designed, novel tests of vision. These latter tests, modified from a protocol for testing visual recovery following removal of congenital cataracts, test a wide range of visual capabilities needed for activities of daily living and normal social interactions.
Results: :
A battery of tests has been developed to evaluate a broad range of functional visual tasks. Eight tests assess visual segmentation, visual search, form perception, and object identification. Each test includes an array of pictures with varying levels of difficulty presented to patients on a computer screen. Forced–choice answers regarding the stimuli are required. Our poster will exhibit these tests.
Conclusions: :
This new battery of tests was selected because of the potential value in testing severely blind patients. We anticipate that this battery of tests will provide reliable assessment of visual functioning in patients with severe vision loss. The tests are being modified to optimize the time required to deliver these tests and to ensure their reliability. These tests should provide reliable measures of vision for patients before and after surgical treatment to study the effectiveness of a retinal prosthesis.
Keywords: shape, form, contour, object perception • low vision • perception