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Innovation & Technologie Angebot

Novel method for early detection of amblyopia

Country of Origin:
Reference Number: TOHU20170301001
Publication Date: 1 March 2017

Summary

A Hungarian University has developed an easy to use new method and software to recognize amblyopia in early childhood stage. The technology is more sensitive and requires shorter time of examination than other existing technologies. The University is seeking for collaboration in the framework of license, co-development, technical cooperation agreement with industrial and/or research partners from the medical equipment and diagnostics sectors.

Description

Amblyopia (i.e. lazy eye) is a leading cause of permanent vision loss below age of 30 in developed societies. The incidence of this disease is about 6-7% in every population, independent of race or nationality. The main causes of amblyopia are mild childhood eye refractory problems (e.g. anisometropia) and/or eye movement disorders (e.g. squint), which result in a disturbance of visual cortical development. Failure to recognize the problem till 6 or 7 years of age makes the chances of recovery minimal. Irreversible consequences include the lack of binocular vision and impaired visual acuity in one eye. The degree of vision loss can vary from mild to complete blindness. This visual impairment not only creates a great hardship for the child, it can certainly limit future endeavors. Furthermore, if the good, non-amblyopic, eye becomes damaged (e.g. injury, illness) then the person immediately becomes visually disabled. 



A Hungarian University has developed an electrophysiological method, which is capable of recognizing the presence or lack of binocularity as early as six month of age. The clinical importance of this technique is that the earlier the detection of the problem, the more efficient the treatment will be. Due to the lack of verbal communication and cooperation, the evaluation of visual acuity is practically impossible by other methods from six month to 3.5 years of age. 



The University also developed a quick, time effective and reliable method to detect amblyopia in early childhood. This method is capable of identifying all those childhood visual disorders, which may potentially lead to amblyopia after about 3 years of age. The test is based on dynamic random dot stereograms requiring two eyes to recognize a hidden object within the noise. Movies are generated on a laptop or tablet. In contrast to other static stereo tests, the perception of the 3D objects becomes more difficult, even for those who suffer from mild disorder. The results show that mild refractive errors and hidden squints can be identified easily.

The University is looking for industrial and/or research partners from the medical equipment and diagnostics sectors and is seeking for collaboration in the framework of license, co-development and technical cooperation agreement.



Current and Potential Domain of Application: Potential areas of use:



- Healthcare establishments

- Optics

- Medical device manufacturers

- Infant care specialist networks

Advantages and Innovations

Main Advantages:



- Can be used from early ages on children.

- Easy to use on portable computers. 

- More sensitive than other existing technologies (E.g. Lang test, Visus test).

- The time of examination becomes shorter.

- Huge amount of data can be stored.

- User friendly program surface.

- Price / Value rate is outstanding.

Stage Of Development

Available for demonstration

Requested partner

- Type of partner sought:  University, Industrial Partner, Research Institute.



- Specific area of activity of the partner: Healthcare establishments; Optics; Medical device manufacturers; Infant care specialist networks.



- Task to be performed by the partner sought:  Contribution in the further development in the framework of licence or technical agreement.