Peripheral Reading

Central Visual Impairment Clinical Trial

Official title:

Factors Limiting Peripheral Reading

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Enrolling by invitation

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT03640130
• Other study ID #: STUDY00001096
• Status: Enrolling by invitation
• Phase: N/A
• Start date: November 1, 2018
• Est. completion date: March 1, 2019

Study information

• Verified date: November 2018
• Source: University of Houston
• Contact: n/a
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Study type: Interventional

Clinical Trial Summary

The purpose of this study is to evaluate reading performance in the visual periphery by simulating central vision loss using a computer-controlled gaze-contingent display with an eye tracker. Participants will read a page of text at a comfortable rate. Several manipulations hypothesized to improve reading will be tested, such as an inverted-text "spotlight" of a single word that follows the participant's gaze.

Description:

Participants will view paragraphs of multiple sentences of text with their central vision blocked computationally with a "simulated scotoma." Participants will be free to move their eyes around the page of text at a comfortable rate. The three outcomes described elsewhere will be evaluated.

In different blocks, text will contain one or more of several dynamic assistive manipulations that are hypothesized to enhance reading: 1) inverting the text at a given position, with instructions for the participant to attend to that location, which simulates a "surrogate fovea" of a patient with central vision loss. 2) horizontally expanding text to alleviate within-word crowding. 3) highlighting the next word with a visible indicator to encourage proper eye movements.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Enrolling by invitation
• Enrollment: 6
• Est. completion date: March 1, 2019
• Est. primary completion date: March 1, 2019
• Accepts healthy volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers
• Gender: All
• Age group: N/A and older

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

• Normal vision

• English language

Exclusion Criteria:

• Less than 20/20 vision in either eye

• Abnormalities which affect vision (amblyopia, keratoconus, etc.)

• Ortho-K lenses

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Central Visual Impairment
• Vision Disorders
• Vision, Low

Intervention

Behavioral:
• Gaze-contingent text enhancement
In different testing blocks, the efficacy of the different enhancements will be evaluated, such as inverting the text in a gaze-contingent inverted "spotlight."

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
United States	University of Houston, College of Optometry	Houston	Texas

Sponsors (1)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
University of Houston

Country where clinical trial is conducted

United States, 

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Primary	Reading speed	Average time/word it takes to read a paragraph of text.	From enrollment to completion of testing (<2 weeks)
Primary	Reading accuracy	Ability to correctly answer comprehension questions or orally read words	From enrollment to completion of testing (<2 weeks)
Primary	Efficiency of eye movement	Ability to move the eyes systematically from word to word	From enrollment to completion of testing (<2 weeks)