A virtual reality visual field perimetry test: Proof of concept
Research type
Research Study
Full title
A virtual reality visual field perimetry test: Proof of concept
IRAS ID
320670
Contact name
David Randall
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
N/A, N/A
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 6 months, 31 days
Research summary
Summary of Research
Glaucoma is the biggest worldwide cause of irreversible blindness.[1] A principal test for glaucoma is visual field perimetry which determines the functional light sensitivity across the retina and can be used to track changes/degradation over time. Existing perimetry equipment is expensive, immovable and is prone to error. We have designed a new perimetry test using virtual reality (VR) technology. This study aims to test and compare VR technology against existing equipment.The study team will recruit 20 healthy volunteers and 10 patients with known visual defects. The healthy volunteers will be primarily recruited from hospital staff. Volunteers will have two perimetry tests on the same eye using existing equipment and VR. The patients will be recruited through the Eye Clinic at The Royal Hallamshire Hospital. Each patient will undertake single test on each eye on both devices. A short questionnaire will also be filled in by each participant to assess initial impressions of the VR technology.
The principal outcome from the study is to determine whether VR has the potential to deliver diagnostic information. This will mostly be determined from data collected from the patient arm of the study. The healthy volunteer study will provide data to compare VR to existing equipment. This will include comparisons in test time, variability in results and patient/participant comfort. As this is a prototype, the results will clarify any issues with the VR system and where any further development should be focused.
Summary of Results
Glaucoma is the biggest cause of irreversible blindness in the world, affecting 1 in 50 people over the age of 40 and 1 in 10 over 75. The principal test for glaucoma is visual field perimetry but cost (£30000/unit) and lack of equipment availability means patients are not being diagnosed/monitored appropriately. Furthermore, each eye takes up to 20 minutes to test and results can be invalidated by a slight head movement. We have produced a novel prototype perimetry test using virtual reality (VR) technology to address this clinical requirement. Our solution aims to be portable, inexpensive (£400), allow head movements and increase testing capacity.The specific aims for this project were to:
1. develop the software to enable a prototype perimetry field test in a VR headset,
2. test the developed software on healthy individuals,
3. acquire evidence for proof of concept to lay the foundations for a larger scale study on Glaucoma patients and larger grant application.At this stage, the main metrics for success on healthy volunteers were: “Is the blind spot identifiable” and “does the result have the appearance of a ‘healthy’ visual field”. Analysis of the small sample of participants reveals that the VR visual field assessment was able to identify the blind spot in both eyes of all participants. It is difficult to draw conclusive information from such a small sample size but the initial findings suggest the prototype works as desired.
REC name
West of Scotland REC 1
REC reference
23/WS/0105
Date of REC Opinion
14 Aug 2023
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion