Vision Rehabilitation Training With Multimodal Feedback in Central Vision Loss
Trial statusRecruiting
Trial phaseNot applicable
Trial typeInterventional
Biological sexAll
Age14+
SponsorNew England College of Optometry
About this trial
Central vision loss from macular degeneration creates blind spots that impair reading, face recognition, and navigation. Individuals must learn to use peripheral vision, requiring retraining of eye movements. Our preliminary research using high-speed eye tracking demonstrated that people with larger scotomas have impaired eye movement control, and that single-session visual feedback training showed limited immediate benefit, though combining feedback types showed promise.
This study will evaluate whether extended binocular training (5 weekly sessions) with multimodal feedback improves eye movement control in 8-15 participants with bilateral central vision loss. Unlike conventional monocular rehabilitation systems, our approach trains both eyes simultaneously using real-time visual and auditory feedback during saccadic and smooth pursuit tasks. Participants will receive gaze-contingent scotoma awareness feedback, preferred retinal locus feedback, and auditory cues while performing eye tracking exercises.
Primary outcomes include saccadic accuracy (latency, landing error, amplitude) and smooth pursuit parameters (gain, tracking accuracy). Secondary outcomes include contrast sensitivity and self-reported visual function. Success could establish an evidence base for accessible home-based training using virtual reality technology, potentially benefiting millions with macular degeneration.
Eligibility criteria
This trial does not accept healthy volunteersQualifiers
None
Disqualifiers
None
Trial design
Design model
Single group
Treatments tested in this trial
eccentric viewing training with biofeedback
BehavioralParticipants will complete 5 weekly training sessions (approximately 60 minutes each) performing eye movement exercises while receiving real-time multimodal feedback. Training includes: Saccadic Training: Visually-guided saccades to targets appearing at randomized locations with instructions to use peripheral (inferior) retinal locus. Targets shift horizontally, vertically, and obliquely to train all saccadic directions. Smooth Pursuit Training: Circular pursuit of moving targets at 2.6°/s in randomized directions with instructions to maintain peripheral gaze above the target. Feedback Modalities (systematically varied across sessions):Scotoma Awareness: Gaze-contingent black circle overlay representing participant's blind spot; Preferred Retinal Locus (PRL) Feedback: Dynamic gaze-contingent ring showing real-time fixation location; Auditory Feedback: Tone modulation indicating fixation stability, PRL accuracy, and target acquisition success; Combined multimodal feedback
Treatment groups
12 Participants
are divided into 1 treatment groupGroup A: Feedback TrainingExperimental treatment 1 intervention
Trial outcomes
Primary outcomes
1
Change in Saccadic Accuracy (Landing Error)
Mean distance in degrees between saccade landing position and target location, measured using binocular eye tracking during visually-guided saccade tasks. Lower values indicate better accuracy.
Time frame
At First study visit - Baseline, At each training visit (week 1, week 2, week 3, week 4, week 5, and post training (week 11 )Secondary outcomes
1
Change in Saccadic Latency
Time in milliseconds from target appearance to saccade initiation, measured using binocular eye tracking. Faster latencies indicate improved oculomotor response.
Time frame
At First study visit - Baseline, At each training visit (week 1, week 2, week 3, week 4, week 5, and post training (week 11 )2
Change in Smooth Pursuit Gain
Ratio of eye velocity to target velocity during smooth pursuit tasks (optimal gain = 1.0). Higher gain values indicate better pursuit tracking accuracy.
Time frame
At First study visit - Baseline, At each training visit (week 1, week 2, week 3, week 4, week 5, and post training (week 11 )3
Change in Number of Catch-up Saccades During Pursuit
Mean number of corrective saccades per trial during smooth pursuit tasks. Fewer catch-up saccades indicate smoother, more accurate pursuit performance.
Time frame
At First study visit - Baseline, At each training visit (week 1, week 2, week 3, week 4, week 5, and post training (week 11 )4
Change in Contrast Sensitivity Function
Area under the log contrast sensitivity function (AULCSF) measured using adaptive Gabor presentations during eye movement tasks. Higher values indicate better contrast sensitivity.
Time frame
Baseline, Post-training (Week 6)Sponsors and contacts
Click on the lead sponsor to view all of their trials.
New England College of Optometry
Lead sponsor
H. Eric Cushing Foundation
Collaborator
Northeastern University, Department of Psychology
Collaborator
Source ClinicalTrials.gov