Computer-based vision training improves uncorrected visual acuity and contrast sensitivity after cataract surgery, according to a study presented today at the 2010 annual meeting of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO).
The researchers evaluated the effectiveness of stimulation of the visual cortex of the brain to improve vision after the surgery, using a commercially available computer-based vision training program (RevitalVision, LLC; Lawrence, Kan.).
The vision training was performed on 60 eyes of subjects that had undergone cataract surgery and had one of five styles of intraocular lenses implanted after removal of their cataracts. The mean age of the subjects was 68 years.
Uncorrected visual acuity and contrast sensitivity at both distance and near were tested at 1 month and 3 months after surgery. In the weeks between these measurements, subjects underwent 20 sessions of vision training using the computer-based RevitalVision Cortex Vision Training (CVT) program.
After CVT, mean improvement in uncorrected visual acuity for all subjects was 1.3 lines on a standard eye chart for distance vision and 1.0 line for near vision. Mean improvement in contrast sensitivity function was 223 percent for distance vision and 197 percent for near vision.
Subjects demonstrated gains in uncorrected visual acuity regardless of the type of intraocular lens (IOL) they received during their cataract surgery: aspheric monofocal IOLs, Crystalens accommodating IOLs or multifocal IOLs.
The research was authored by ophthalmologists G.O. Waring IV, MD, (Emory University School of Medicine; Atlanta Ga.), J.D. Hunkeler, MD, (University of Kansas Medical Center; Prairie Village, Kan.) and R.L. Lindstrom, MD, (University of Minnesota; Minneapolis, Minn.)
About ARVO: The Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology is the world’s largest eye and vision research organization with more than 12, 500 members from more than 80 countries. Membership is ARVO is multidisciplinary and includes ophthalmologists, PhDs, optometrists and other vision researchers. For more about ARVO, visit www.arvo.org.
Tags: vision training