Led by the moving light
Led by the moving light
Assessing visual field integrity using intuitive gaze-based stimulus tracking in glaucoma and acquired brain injury
Vision is essential for our daily functioning and maintaining independence. The visual field (VF) integrity plays a crucial role in this, as it is particularly important for orientation in space, mobility, and safe interaction with the environment. By accurately measuring VFs, important clues can be found for ophthalmic and neurological diseases.
However, current VF assessments have several limitations. They require continuous attention, concentration, and fast responses, which can be problematic for specific populations such as the elderly, children, or individuals with acquired brain injury (ABI). These limitations highlight the need for more intuitive, less cognitively demanding methods for VF assessment.
In this thesis of Anne Vrijling, we optimized and evaluated SONDA-EMP, a specific method based on eye-movement perimetry. With this method, participants need to follow a continuously moving and jumping dot on a screen with their eyes, while an eye-tracker records their eye movements. This makes VF assessments significantly simpler and more intuitive.
The research focused on glaucoma and ABI, the two major causes of VF defects. The results demonstrate that SONDA-EMP can detect and quantify visual function loss caused by these conditions. Furthermore, the method met the clinical criteria for screening across the severity stages of glaucoma and is experienced as a user-friendly method.
This thesis shows that a test based on continuous visual stimulus tracking can be successfully translated from an experimental research method into a clinically applicable and user-friendly method to detect and quantify visual function loss in both people with glaucoma and people with ABI.