A More Engaging Visual Field Test to Increase Use and Reliability in Pediatrics

The majority of young children do not think that visual field (VF) testing of peripheral
vision is similar to a game; therefore, it is not surprising that they have difficulty
maintaining attention during VF testing and thus the test reliability suffers as a
consequence. Poor VF reliability has been a longstanding, major issue since it leads to an
increased number of tests and/or longer duration of time needed to determine when there are
true vision losses. Providers are less likely to obtain VF tests in children since the
results are of doubtful value and challenging to interpret when they are inconsistent.
Effectively this means that children with untreated, slowly progressive eye diseases may go
undiagnosed and incur greater visual losses. The investigators aim to create a prototype
device that the investigators hypothesize will make VF testing more engaging for young
children, thus increasing their attention and consistency of their responses to the test
stimuli, which in turn should improve VF reliability. The components include a microdisplay
video screen (1.5" diameter) as the fixation target (instead of the standard LED light)
displaying video clips of popular cartoon characters, and audio clips of impersonated cartoon
character voices presented by the test operator to provide instructional feedback based on
the child's performance during testing. Improved VF reliability from the investigators
intervention would translate to improved diagnosis and care for young childrens' peripheral
vision loss through widespread implementation of the investigators innovative, affordable and
readily adoptable system at eye care providers' offices.