TY - JOUR
T1 - New pediatric vision screener, part II
T2 - Electronics, software, signal processing and validation
AU - Gramatikov, Boris I.
AU - Irsch, Kristina
AU - Wu, Yi Kai
AU - Guyton, David L.
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by an Individual Biomedical Research Award from the Hartwell Foundation (BG), gifts from Robert and Maureen Feduniak, Dewey and Janet Gargiulo, David and Helen Leighton, Richard and Victoria Baks, Robert and Diane Levy, by Research to Prevent Blindness (DG), and by the Knights Templar Eye Foundation (KI). The authors acknowledge Ivan Gramatikov for his help as a volunteer in assembling and measuring the amplifiers and analog filters of the PVS.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2016 Gramatikov et al.
PY - 2016/2/4
Y1 - 2016/2/4
N2 - Background: We have developed an improved pediatric vision screener (PVS) that can reliably detect central fixation, eye alignment and focus. The instrument identifies risk factors for amblyopia, namely eye misalignment and defocus. Methods: The device uses the birefringence of the human fovea (the most sensitive part of the retina). The optics have been reported in more detail previously. The present article focuses on the electronics and the analysis algorithms used. The objective of this study was to optimize the analog design, data acquisition, noise suppression techniques, the classification algorithms and the decision making thresholds, as well as to validate the performance of the research instrument on an initial group of young test subjects-18 patients with known vision abnormalities (eight male and 10 female), ages 4-25 (only one above 18) and 19 controls with proven lack of vision issues. Four statistical methods were used to derive decision making thresholds that would best separate patients with abnormalities from controls. Sensitivity and specificity were calculated for each method, and the most suitable one was selected. Results: Both the central fixation and the focus detection criteria worked robustly and allowed reliable separation between normal test subjects and symptomatic subjects. The sensitivity of the instrument was 100 % for both central fixation and focus detection. The specificity was 100 % for central fixation and 89.5 % for focus detection. The overall sensitivity was 100 % and the overall specificity was 94.7 %. Conclusions: Despite the relatively small initial sample size, we believe that the PVS instrument design, the analysis methods employed, and the device as a whole, will prove valuable for mass screening of children.
AB - Background: We have developed an improved pediatric vision screener (PVS) that can reliably detect central fixation, eye alignment and focus. The instrument identifies risk factors for amblyopia, namely eye misalignment and defocus. Methods: The device uses the birefringence of the human fovea (the most sensitive part of the retina). The optics have been reported in more detail previously. The present article focuses on the electronics and the analysis algorithms used. The objective of this study was to optimize the analog design, data acquisition, noise suppression techniques, the classification algorithms and the decision making thresholds, as well as to validate the performance of the research instrument on an initial group of young test subjects-18 patients with known vision abnormalities (eight male and 10 female), ages 4-25 (only one above 18) and 19 controls with proven lack of vision issues. Four statistical methods were used to derive decision making thresholds that would best separate patients with abnormalities from controls. Sensitivity and specificity were calculated for each method, and the most suitable one was selected. Results: Both the central fixation and the focus detection criteria worked robustly and allowed reliable separation between normal test subjects and symptomatic subjects. The sensitivity of the instrument was 100 % for both central fixation and focus detection. The specificity was 100 % for central fixation and 89.5 % for focus detection. The overall sensitivity was 100 % and the overall specificity was 94.7 %. Conclusions: Despite the relatively small initial sample size, we believe that the PVS instrument design, the analysis methods employed, and the device as a whole, will prove valuable for mass screening of children.
KW - Amblyopia
KW - Birefringence
KW - Fixation detection
KW - Focus detection
KW - Retina
KW - Strabismus
KW - Vision screener
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U2 - 10.1186/s12938-016-0128-7
DO - 10.1186/s12938-016-0128-7
M3 - Article
C2 - 26847626
AN - SCOPUS:84958185615
SN - 1475-925X
VL - 15
JO - BioMedical Engineering Online
JF - BioMedical Engineering Online
IS - 1
M1 - 15
ER -