Visual Field Testing Falls Short For Early Glaucoma Patients – Earlier Glaucoma Diagnosis Possible With Diopsys VEP Data

Diopsys VEP technology indicates functional abnormalities in early glaucoma patients where visual field testing fails.

Pine Brook, NJ (PRWEB) - To better evaluate patients with degenerative vision problems, a team of researchers from New York Eye and Ear Infirmary recently concluded that the Diopsys® NOVA-LX VEP vision test may be useful for diagnosis of glaucoma with structural abnormalities where visual field tests indicate normal vision. The outcome of their study showed Diopsys® VEP technology objectively indentified decreased visual function in early glaucoma patients where visual fields did not. This finding is very important since it enables specialists to treat patients sooner, and may help to prevent blindness in vast numbers of people suffering from glaucoma

The results of this ground breaking study were presented at the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) 2013 conference in an abstract poster titled, Evaluation of Pre-Perimetric Glaucoma Patients using Short Duration Transient Visual Evoked Potentials (SD-tVEP).

The data for the research was collected using the Diopsys® NOVA-LX Vision Testing System, part of the Diopsys® NOVA-VEP suite of tests which use Visual Evoked Potential (VEP) technology. VEP objectively assesses the function of the entire vision system by measuring the electrical energy created in the retina which travels to the visual cortex. Glaucoma is characterized by progressive loss of special cells in the retina, called ganglion cells, and their axons. Because these ganglion cells carry the electrical pulses of what we “see” through the optic nerve to various vision centers of the brain, VEP technology is able to measure damage from the disease early on.

The Diopsys® NOVA-LX is an easy-to-follow, fixed VEP test protocol that guides the technician through the procedure. The protocol uses both low contrast and high contrast patterns to indicate the health of the magnocellular and parvocellular pathways. Clinicians may quickly view color-coded VEP results to enhance medical decision-making and treatment planning.

About Diopsys
Diopsys, Inc. (http://www.diopsys.com/) is a medical instrumentation company dedicated to delivering high-quality, cost-effective preventative health care solutions. The company specializes in development and marketing of patient-friendly, non-invasive vision testing equipment utilizing electrophysiological technology, including Visual Evoked Potential and Electroretinography.

Diopsys has developed and markets the patented Diopsys® NOVA-VEP and Diopsys® NOVA-ERG Vision Testing Systems utilized by optometrists and ophthalmologists to help in the detection, diagnosis and treatment of vision disorders. Diopsys also provides the Enfant® Pediatric VEP Vision Testing System, a device used in testing for visual deficits, including amblyopia, in children as young as six months of age.