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The purpose of this study is to understand if combining Low Vision Rehabilitation (LVR) with Emotional Regulation Therapy (ERT) can help people with inherited retinal diseases (IRDs) that experience emotional distress related to participants' vision loss. The study team hypothesize that treatment with LVR will produce measurable functional gains and that these effects will be enhanced by ERT-linked improvement among the subgroup of IRD patients with elevated vision-related anxiety.
One goal of this research is to conduct a non-inferiority trial of telerehabilitation versus in-office care to provide follow-up training to individuals with low vision to enhance their quality of life by using magnification devices and/or visual assistive mobile apps for important daily activities, such as reading and/or other valued tasks. This is a high priority given the increasing prevalence of low vision, paucity of low vision rehabilitation providers, and barriers related to access to care, such as transportation and geography, which can be essentially eliminated with telerehabilitation. Another goal of this project is to determine whether significant changes in environmental data collected by Bluetooth low energy beacon sensors can be used as a solution to monitor and indicate when low vision patients' have abandoned the use of their magnification devices, which has the potential to substantially enhance patient management by providing timely low vision rehabilitation services.
This research is aimed to address one of the big gaps in the current vision rehabilitation protocols for people with profound visual impairment by evaluating a multisensory approach. There are a growing number of clinical trials that recruit people with end-stage eye diseases and the rehabilitation plan following various treatments is not clear. It is important to address this in order to maximize the efficacy of such treatments and to improve the quality of life in people with profound visual impairment.
Approximately 217 million people worldwide currently suffer from low vision, which impacts a broad range of activities of daily living and is associated with depression and increased mortality. Over half of the patients presenting for low vision services have eye disease that affects the fovea and surrounding macula and leads to central vision loss (CVL). People with CVL are forced to use eccentric vision as a substitute for their impaired fovea, however eye movement control and visual function is impaired with eccentric vision. Recent evidence and preliminary results from the investigators show that rehabilitation methods can help improve oculomotor control and this can lead to improved functional outcomes. The investigators have developed new feedback-based training methods that aim to improve eccentric vision use by patients with CVL. In a series of studies, the investigators examine rehabilitation of fixation control, smooth pursuit eye movements that track moving objects and saccadic eye movements that abruptly change the point of regard. The investigators examine how visual feedback, scotoma awareness methods and hand-eye coordination can improve eccentric vision use. Improvements in oculomotor control are quantified with eye tracking methods and associated changes in visual function are quantified with acuity, contrast sensitivity and reading performance. The proposed research therefore develops and translates state-of-the-art methods in basic science to clinical applications. Accomplishing the proposed aims will provide new and improved methods for rehabilitation strategies for visual impairment. The ultimate goal of this proposal is to maximize the residual visual function of people with low vision and to help them to live independently, thereby improving quality of life and minimizing the economic and social burden of visual impairment.
This research aims to test the updated version of Gentex's device, eSight Go, an image enhancing wearable device to assist those with vision impairments limiting activities of daily living.
Falls are common among people with vision impairment and can lead to devastating health consequences. Understanding the functions of vision and how the visual characteristics of obstacles in the walking path impact the gait of people with vision impairment is necessary to create strategies to prevent falls in this population. The purpose of this study is to determine how adults with vision impairment change their gait behavior when stepping over obstacles that vary in height and contrast to the ground. We will then determine the mechanisms of gaze behavior that correlate to the gait behavior.
The aims of this exploratory research project are to customize, deploy and evaluate the preliminary efficacy of a socially assistive robot as a novel approach to motivate and encourage optimal, long-term use of new magnification devices for reading in individuals with vision loss. The goals are to promote patient acceptance, adherence and skills reinforcement to achieve proficiency in the use of the magnifier, in order to attempt to reduce visual disability while performing important daily activities, such as reading tasks. This is a high priority given the increasing prevalence of low vision, paucity of low vision rehabilitation providers, and barriers related to access to care, such as transportation and geography, all of which motivate the development of this complementary approach for the provision of additional support at home by the socially assistive robot.
The goal of this study is to develop and pilot test a therapeutic strategy combining cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) with mindfulness practices tailored for individuals adjusting to vision loss. The study will begin with focus groups to inform the design of the intervention. Participants will complete brief surveys on their background and experiences with vision loss prior to attending a focus group, and some may be invited to a second session to provide additional feedback before preliminary testing begins. In the pilot phase, participants will attend weekly group therapy sessions using the developed intervention and complete assessments before and after the program, including questions about vision status, demographics, and experiences with vision loss.
One of the most challenging tasks for blind and visually impaired individuals is navigation through a complex environment. The goal of the present multidisciplinary study is to increase spatial-cognition abilities in people who are blind or visually impaired through training with the previously-developed Cognitive-Kinesthetic Rehabilitation Training to improve navigation, and to investigate the resultant neuroplastic brain reorganization through multimodal brain imaging. In accordance with National Eye Institute (NEI) strategic goals, this multidisciplinary project will promote the development of well-informed new approaches to navigational rehabilitation, memory enhancement and cross-modal brain plasticity to benefit 'cutting edge' fields of mobile assistive technologies, vision restoration and memory facilitation for the aging brain.
The goal of this observational study is to assess the reliability and validity of the 9-object MLSDT for evaluation of participants with moderate to severe vision impairment when tested without a wearable low-vision magnifying aid (eGlasses) and then with eGlasses. These results will be compared to ETDRS testing results for the same participants without eGlasses and then with eGlasses. Two cohorts will consist of participants who have vision loss due to STGD or geographic atrophy (GA) due to age-related macular degenerations (AMD). Normally sighted participants will provide a control group.