Credit score: Pixabay/CC0 Public Area
Might a digital actuality headset supply a less expensive, simpler, and extra comfy technique of testing an individual’s imaginative and prescient, notably amongst sufferers with a degenerative eye situation known as geographic atrophy? It is a query that ophthalmologists like Jesse Smith, MD, an affiliate professor within the College of Colorado Anschutz Division of Ophthalmology, are exploring—and preliminary findings point out optimistic potential.
In a small research of 24 sufferers with geographic atrophy on the Sue Anschutz-Rodgers Eye Middle, Smith and his co-investigators in contrast a typical technique of testing a affected person’s central imaginative and prescient—known as microperimetry—with a VR-based take a look at. In the end, the preliminary research discovered that the VR take a look at delivered related outcomes to the microperimetry take a look at, indicating the VR headset could also be a superb various to evaluate sufferers’ imaginative and prescient, notably on the subject of testing the effectiveness of recent medication developed to deal with geographic atrophy. Nevertheless, additional research are wanted to substantiate these findings, he notes.
“Microperimetry is very useful, especially when we want to assess if drugs provide functional vision benefits, but at the same time, it’s not a very practical test. The question is: Is there a better way to do it?” Smith says. “That’s what spawned this study.”
Geographic atrophy—a rising situation
Geographic atrophy is probably the most superior type of dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a probably vision-threatening eye illness that primarily impacts older adults. Basically, the light-sensing cells of the retina are absent in a part of the attention, resulting in sufferers dropping a whole lot of the central a part of their imaginative and prescient, Smith explains.
“When you lose tissue, it’s called atrophy. The reason we use the word ‘geographic’ is because the shape where the photoreceptors are missing can almost look like the shapes of islands on a map—an archipelago of lost tissue,” he says. “We use our central vision for reading, recognizing people’s faces, driving, and so on, so having geographic atrophy can really diminish a person’s independence and their function.”
As of 2019, an estimated 19.8 million People aged 40 and older had AMD, in response to the Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention. The American Academy of Ophthalmology explains that one in 5 individuals with AMD are estimated to have geographic atrophy. Threat components embody a household historical past of AMD, growing older, and smoking.
“This condition is becoming more common because people are living longer and it is genetically related. It’s more common in people who trace their roots back to Northern or Eastern Europe,” Smith says. “Over the years, we’ve gotten better at slowing down the disease progression, but a challenge is that no one has invented a way to restore lost vision.”
The significance of practical exams
In 2023, the Meals and Drug Administration accepted two medication known as Syfovre (pegcetacoplan) and Izervay (avacincaptad pegol) for treating geographic atrophy. These medication are delivered by way of a watch injection. Nevertheless, the European Medicines Company, which is the European equal of the FDA, didn’t approve Syfovre, saying the research didn’t present the drug had “clinically meaningful benefits for patients.”
“Some of the criticism of these newer drugs is that the data the FDA used to approve them did not demonstrate functional benefits—so it looked like the disease progression slowed down compared to a sham injection, but that didn’t coincide with an actual functional benefit for the patients,” Smith says. “If we’re going to treat people, we want to improve their life in some way. Now, there’s a lot more interest in assessing people’s vision and demonstrating functional benefits because there is so much interest in these geographic atrophy drugs.”
Microperimetry is a kind of visible subject take a look at that assesses the central a part of an individual’s imaginative and prescient, making it a helpful technique of testing the perform of the realm of the retina that enables studying or driving, he explains. It entails a affected person wanting into a tool in a watch clinic that evaluates how delicate completely different factors within the central retina are to mild, revealing potential blind spots.
“Microperimetry is often thought of as the gold standard to assess what a patient’s central visual field looks like. It’s good at assessing damage from diseases of the macula, which is responsible for central vision,” he says. “It plots specific points of sensitivity onto a map so the ophthalmologist can see how sensitive a certain point of the macula is. It gives a lot of good information about a patient’s function.”
VR vs. microperimetry
Nevertheless, there are some drawbacks to microperimetry, Smith explains. It’s a cumbersome machine that takes up house within the clinic, it requires a technician to stroll the affected person by way of the visible subject take a look at, it’s pricey, and it’s time-consuming. Contemplating these limitations, Smith determined to discover the viability of VR headsets in its place.
“VR headsets are interesting because there are actually more companies that manufacture these headsets than there are published articles supporting their use in geographic atrophy, so the evidence is thin at this point,” he says. “What we wanted to do was partner with the company Genentech to assess whether a VR-based visual field test could replicate the results of microperimetry.”
For the VR-based take a look at, a affected person places a headset on and sees a cartoon digital assistant who walks them by way of take the take a look at. The affected person additionally holds a small set off button of their hand, pushing the button every time they see a tiny level of sunshine in some portion of their visible subject.
“The headset tracks where the patient is looking. That way, we can make sure that the patient is not looking around for the light. Instead, they should be looking straight ahead so we can assess if they can see the light at specific points in the visual field,” he says.
‘Quicker, simpler, extra comfy, cheaper’
As a part of the research, Smith and his colleagues carried out the microperimetry take a look at as soon as and the VR-based take a look at twice on a cohort of 24 sufferers with geographic atrophy.
“We wanted to make sure that the two VR tests agreed with each other before comparing whether they agreed with the microperimetry test,” he says. “Ultimately, we found a really tight statistical correlation that seemed to indicate that you can get the same information from a VR-based test as you can with microperimetry. We tested 68 points in the visual field, and as we compared that grid of 68 points, the information from both tests kept agreeing with each other.”
The sufferers answered a desire survey after finishing the testing, and total, their suggestions indicated they discovered the VR headset to be extra comfy and simpler to make use of. The headsets are additionally useful as a result of they’re inexpensive than microperimetry, they take much less time to make use of, they usually do not take up room within the clinic since they are often saved in a cupboard, Smith notes.
Nevertheless, microperimetry has the benefit of exhibiting a bodily picture of the retina and associating the sensitivity of a given level within the eye with that picture—one thing the VR take a look at doesn’t do.
“If you have two options that provide mostly the same information, and one of those options seems to be faster, easier, more comfortable, cheaper, and takes up less room, you likely will opt for that one,” he says. “But this is a preliminary, 24-patient study, so further, larger studies are needed on this.”
Smith not too long ago introduced these findings throughout The Retina Society’s 58th Annual Scientific Assembly in Chicago, and he’s working together with his co-investigators to publish the analysis. Given the necessity for extra remedies for geographic atrophy, he’s keen on additional exploring the viability of utilizing VR-based exams in scientific trials to evaluate if a drug is efficient at enhancing sufferers’ imaginative and prescient.
“For regulators to approve a new drug, the clinical trial needs to show functional benefit to a patient’s vision. I think this study shows that VR-based assessments may be a reasonable clinical trial endpoint to demonstrate that,” he says. “In ophthalmology, we’re always working to improve our methods, and I think this is another example of how we try to better our processes to help patients.”
Supplied by
College of Colorado College of Drugs
Quotation:
Digital actuality instrument could supply simpler imaginative and prescient testing, early analysis reveals (2025, November 12)
retrieved 12 November 2025
from https://medicalxpress.com/information/2025-11-virtual-reality-tool-easier-vision.html
This doc is topic to copyright. Other than any honest dealing for the aim of personal research or analysis, no
half could also be reproduced with out the written permission. The content material is offered for info functions solely.
