DISCRIMINATION TEST FOR EARLY GLAUCOMA DETECTION

THE OBJECTIVE OF THE PROPOSED PROJECT IS TO DEVELOP AND EVALUATE A NEW INSTRUMENT DESIGNED TO PSYCHOPHYSICALLY DETECT EARLIEST SIGNS OF LOSS OF VISION DUE TO NERVE DAMAGE FROM GLAUCOMA OR OCULAR HYPERTENSION. THE PROPOSED INSTRUMENT IS A COMPUTER-CONTROLLED PROJECTION PERIMETER THAT EMPLOYS PATTERN DISCRIMINATIONS, AS OPPOSED TO CONVENTIONAL MEASURES OF LUMINANCE CONTRAST THRESHOLDS, AS THE CRITERION FOR DETECTING VISUAL FIELD ABNORMALITIES. THE PROJECT PROPOSED IN THIS APPLICATION CONSISTS OF DEVELOPING THE HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE FOR A PROTOTYPE MODEL OF THE PATTERN DISCRIMINATION PERIMETER. THIS MODEL WILL BE SUBJECTED TO TESTING AT LKC TO VERIFY THAT IT IS READY FOR CLINICAL EVALUATION. CLINICAL TESTING WILL BEGIN AT COMPLETION OF PHASE I.