Electronic occluding glasses that can treat lazy eye

 

Amblyz™Electronic Occluding Glasses are designed to treat amblyopia, a condition that afflicts three to five percent of children. Amblyopia is the medical term used when the vision in one of the eyes is reduced because the eye and the brain are not working together properly. The eye itself looks normal, but it is not being used normally because the brain is favoring the other eye. This condition is also sometimes called lazy eye.

Amblyopia can result from any condition that prevents the eye from focusing clearly. Amblyopia can be caused by the misalignment of the two eyes—a condition called strabismus. With strabismus, the eyes can cross in (esotropia) or turn out (exotropia). Occasionally, amblyopia is caused by a clouding of the front part of the eye, a condition called cataract. 

 

If not treated successfully as early as possible, amblyopia can continue into adulthood and may cause vision impairment or blindness.

For several years, the only treatment for amblyopia has been to obstruct the stronger eye with an eye patch or with atropine drops to force the weaker eye to function and develop. 

Now, there’s a new solution in the form of electronic eyeglasses called Amblyz™ Glasses.

Amblyz is an electronic medical device with active shutter glasses or lenses. The device is designed to do the same thing as eye patches or eye drops with its active shutter lenses. The glasses have programmable LCD lenses that darken to become a "digital eye patch" over the stronger eye.

The main advantage of the Amblyz glasses is that the device provides none of the social stigma of an eye patch or the discomfort of eye drops. It is also easier for children to comply with wearing the glasses, therefore, ensuring that the treatment for their amblyopia is continuous. Amblyz glasses can also be incorporated with correction lenses that the user may need, so they can be worn like regular correction glasses.

The glasses come in a kid-friendly and unisex design. They are also lightweight and the frame is lined with soft rubber to ensure that they are comfortable when worn all day. They run on rechargeable batteries and would need to be charged when needed.

The Amblyz Glasses were developed by the XPAND group with world-renowned ophthalmologists and optometrists and tested in clinical studies conducted at three leading medical centers in Israel. The successful results from the first U.S. trial of the glasses conducted by researchers from the Glick Eye Institute at Indiana University were also presented at the 119th Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Ophthalmology.

Researchers at the Glick Eye Institute at Indiana University tested the effectiveness of occlusion glasses compared to patching in a randomized clinical study. They recruited 33 subjects with lazy eye between age 3 and 8 who wore spectacles to correct their vision. One group wore an adhesive patch for two hours daily. The other wore Amblyz™ occlusion glasses for 4 hours daily. In the study, the lens over the eye with better vision switched from clear to opaque every 30 seconds. After three months, both groups of children showed the same amount of improvement in the lazy eye, gaining two lines on a reading chart.

“When you talk to adults who underwent childhood treatment for amblyopia, they will tell you that wearing a patch was the worst thing ever,” said Daniel Neely, M.D., a pediatric ophthalmology professor at Indiana University who led the study. “With these electronic occlusion glasses, the child learns that the lens will be clear again in just a few seconds so they may be more cooperative with the treatment. For parents who have struggled with drops and patching, this could be a great alternative.”

Glasses must be recommended by a ophthalmologist or a strabologist and possibly a neurologist, because it is not tested on children, who are prone to epilepsy.

Source:
 

http://www.xpand.me/dms/document/dms/text/2015/02/17/16/58/54/xpand-onesheet-pro-US-amblyz-email.pdf

http://www.aao.org/newsroom/news-releases/detail/programmable-electronic-glasses-provide-children-e

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