Orientation and mobility assessment in retinal prosthetic clinical trials
Open accessAbstract
PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to develop an orientation and mobility (O&M) assessment protocol to implement in subjects who have been implanted with an artificial silicon retina (ASR), and to use this experience to propose a research agenda for O&M with prosthetic vision. METHODS: A controlled and naturalistic assessment was developed that included walking a prescribed obstacle course and travel to and from a hospital cafeteria. Subjects were tested before and 3 and 6 months after being implanted with the ASR. Outcome measures were walking speed and number of contacts with obstacles. The experiences from this study led to a proposed research agenda in O&M. RESULTS: Eight subjects with retinitis pigmentosa participated in this study. The vision status of the subjects ranged from <20/1600 to 20/80 visual acuity and visual fields of <5 to 40°. Using a repeated-measures analysis of variance, no differences were found in the primary outcome measures. Four subjects were observed to have reduced mobility after implantation. Three subjects self-reported enhancements of travel after implantation, but this enhancement was not observed. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates that mobility might not be improved with prosthetic vision. The proposed research agenda emphasizes the importance of developing individualized assessments, identifying specific items of orientation rather than mobility for measuring the effect of prosthetic vision, and to develop and evaluate instructional programs that may be needed to obtain the full benefit of the technology.
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Existing visual prostheses generally provide an improved ability to localize high-contrast objects and to perform basic orientation and mobility tasks.
“Existing devices generally provide an improved ability to localize high-contrast objects and to perform basic orientation & mobility tasks (Geruschat et al., 2012; Karapanos et al., 2021).”
From Towards a <i>Smart Bionic Eye</i> : AI-powered artificial vision for the treatment of incurable blindness (2022) · cites this paper as Geruschat et al., 2012
The Discussion reports no measured mobility benefit from the ASR implant and describes orientation benefits as a possibility, not an established improvement. The Research agenda section likewise says the study found no objective difference in mobility. These findings run contrary to citing this study for the claim that existing devices generally improve basic orientation and mobility tasks; the cited passages also do not establish improved localization of high-contrast objects. (LLM, conf=0.86)
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Flagged first, then by citations
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- [17]Schneck ME Dagnelie G Dagnelie G Prosthetic vision assessment Visual prosthetics: Physiology, bioengineering, rehabilitation 2011 385 412 Springer NY
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- Authors
- Geruschat, D. R., Bittner, A. K., & Dagnelie, G.
- Affiliations
- Drexel University Elkins Park Campus (US)
- Johns Hopkins University (US)
- Lions Vision Research and Rehabilitation Center, Wilmer Eye Institute Baltimore Maryland
- Corresponding author
- Geruschat, Duane R.
- Dagnelie, Gislin
- Venue
- Optometry and Vision Science
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2012-09
- Volume
- 89
- Issue
- 9
- Pages
- 1308-1315
- ISSN
- 1040-5488 (ISSN-L)
- 1538-9235
- PMC
- PMC3888774
- OpenAlex
- W2057338286
- Cited by
- 31
- References
- 14
- Citations by year
- 2025: 4 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 2 · 2021: 2 · 2020: 4 · 2019: 1 · 2018: 1 · 2017: 4 · 2016: 4 · 2015: 1 · 2014: 2 · 2012: 1
- FWCI
- 0.53
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Licence
- Locations
- Optometry and Vision Science (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- National Eye Institute (R01EY021220)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neuroscience and Neural Engineering
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › Occupational Therapy › Assistive Technology in Communication and Mobility
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Epidemiology › Ophthalmology and Visual Impairment Studies
- Keywords
- orientation and mobility, retinal prosthesis, retinitis pigmentosa, walking speed, prosthetic vision, visual impairment, individualized assessment, instructional program
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Follow-Up Studies, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Orientation, Psychomotor Performance, Retina, Retinitis Pigmentosa, Contrast Sensitivity, Walking, Visual Prosthesis
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