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UA professor develops software to test eye problems in children

Free Internet program will be available this summer

Young children with lazy eyes may now have a better chance of corrected vision because of a UA professor's new computer software program that will be available on the Internet this August.

Dr. Joseph Miller - a University of Arizona ophthalmology associate professor - recently developed a computer software program that will determine if young children have amblyopia, a vision problem caused by neural dysfunctions in one eye.

Miller's acuity software program requires little training to operate and is accessible free through the Internet. The current tests for lazy eyes can cost about $4,000 and require training.

"It appears it is a more child-friendly test than existing acuity tests," Miller said.

Children - the test aims to evaluate two to seven-year-olds - use Miller's software program to match the letters H, O, T and V.

Eye doctors sometimes check vision with the letter E, but Miller said that letter can confuse children because its direction can be changed.

The letters appear large at first and shrink as the software program, called Amblyopia Treatment Study Threshold Acuity Test, progresses, Miller said.

He added that about five percent of the United States population has amblyopia, but the problem can be reversed if treated early. If the condition is not corrected, a person can have poor depth perception and may be more prone to accidents.

"Our job is to try to find these people while they're young," he said.

The software program will be posted this summer on the Jaeb Center for Health Research , a non-profit clinical trial center based in Tampa, Fla, Web site. The center is studying amblyopia treatment to determine whether eye drops or an eye patch correct vision better.

About 1,000 children involved with the research project with the Jaeb Center for Health Research will be tested first.

Roy W. Beck, the Jaeb Center for Health Research's director, said Miller's software has allowed his organization to record data efficiently and inexpensively.

"It is a huge advance," Beck said. "We plan to use it in every study we are going to do on children."

He added the concept of Miller's software may eventually be used to test adults' vision.

Miller said he hopes eye doctors from around the country use his program to determine if children have amblyopia.

"We hope pediatricians will also use it to check children's vision," he said.

Miller said he developed the program over winter break after reading a few books.

He has requested to present information about the software program at a meeting of American Academy of Ophthalmology in October in Dallas.