The Lions Vision Center at the Wilmer Eye Institute is seeking volunteers who wish to participate in research to develop methods to measure and monitor vision in the home environment. In recent years, personal computers (PCs) have become quite flexible and powerful, and both the image quality on the screen and the ease of operation have made it feasible to start testing vision using PCs in the laboratory. In a new study we want to take this one step further by developing and testing ways to measure vision on PC screens in patients' homes and offices. Such tests would not replace the vision test in a clinic or laboratory, but they would make it possible to measure vision much more frequently without the burden of additional visits to a research center.
You may be a candidate to participate if you are currently under the care of an eye doctor for stable Macular Degeneration (either wet or dry), diabetic retinopathy, optic neuropathy, or glaucoma. Your best corrected visual acuity must be between 20/70 and 20/400 in at least one eye, and you must be at least 18 years of age.
The primary qualifications for volunteers for the Vision Test Validation (VTV) study are as follows: 1) be computer literate; 2) have access to a PC with Internet connection either at home or at work that can be used for vision testing; always on the same weekday at the same time; 3) and have the ability to come to our center for four vision testing sessions. If you do not have a home or office PC, you may come to our center to perform the vision tests during regular weekly scheduled sessions. These PC-based tests are self-administered. They measure visual performance under precisely specified conditions, and will assist future studies in determining improvement, maintenance, or degradation of vision over extended periods of time.
The VTV study duration will be 18 weeks. It involves one initial lab-based vision testing session and PC test orientation training at the Lions Vision Center, 3 additional Center visits for lab-based vision testing at 6 week intervals, and 18 PC-based home test sessions conducted once a week, always on the same weekday at the same time. For the four Center visits, each will take approximately 3 hours, and we provide a parking coupon and reimburse an honorarium of $5 per hour. You will also be paid $5 for each weekly PC testing session. There are no costs involved in joining this study and the software and special test materials for the PC tests will be provided at no cost to you. The home-based PC tests take approximately 1 hour; we will instruct you how to install and use them, and how to submit the results via the Internet. The tests will have no direct benefit to your vision or the condition of your eyes, but they may help to maximize the benefits of any future treatment for diseases of the eye. This study is being sponsored by the Foundation Fighting Blindness.
If you are interested to participate as a volunteer in the VTV study or if you have any questions, please call Dr. Ava Bittner, study coordinator, or Dr. Gislin Dagnelie, principal investigator, at the Lions Vision Center at 410-614-4822
