SBIR Phase I: Novel Vision Screening Digital Platform for Preverbal Children

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will be to enable early mass vision screening of preverbal children by primary care physicians as a result of the development of a reliable, rapid, mobile and affordable vision screening tool. That tool will allow the integration of early vision screening during the well baby care visits. Early childhood vision problems are a major public health issue, affecting 3-5% of infants in the US alone. The vision screening tools currently available for young children are only indirect measures of vision, have limited sensitivity, are not quantitative, too complex and, time-consuming to allow all children to benefit. Early detection and treatment of vision impairments improve vision treatment outcomes and prevents early learning development deficits. This SBIR project will increase access to vision screening at an earlier age, resulting in improved treatment and visual outcomes, allow screening in more situations and locations, and result in a commercially viable, clinically reliable measure of visual function in young children. The proposed project will enhance the vision screening digital platform for preverbal children and validate testing performance and reliability against the current clinical standard (Teller Acuity Card procedure). That digital platform functionality includes user interface, scalable testing patterns, and video output. That platform leverages the innate optokinetic response (OKN), the mobility of a tablet computer and the access and computational capability of the cloud. Cost and complexity of existing vision screening solutions and, lack of cooperation from those young patients have limited access and use of many current testing methods for young children. Two thirds of all preschool children in the US have never had an eye examination or vision screening before starting school. The proposed solution will increase the access of preverbal children to early mass vision screening in the primary care practices during the well baby care visits.