Low Vision

Specialists

Susan A. Primo, OD, MPH, FAAO
Kenneth Rosengren, OD, FAAO
Thao M. Vu, OD

Hope for Patients with Low Vision

Low vision can hamper even the most basic of daily activities—reading the newspaper, playing the piano, writing a check, preparing meals, or even knitting a sweater. The Emory Eye Center’s Low Vision Clinic offers special help for individuals with reduced vision that neither surgery, medical treatment nor the best standard optical remedies can correct. The clinic has helped children with hereditary conditions, individuals who want to remain in the workplace, and older adults who want to maintain independent lives.

For patients with eyesight as poor as 20/80, eyeglasses or contact lenses are sometimes not enough. Our optometrists are evaluating a number of low vision devices that help patients, many of whom are legally blind, see to drive a car, read a newspaper or recognize faces. Some of the devices offered include special magnifiers, high-powered lenses, virtual reality systems, and other optical devices. Our highly trained professionals, keeping in mind the budget and lifestyle of the patient, are committed to helping each patient, meet his/her goals for improved vision.

The Low Vision Clinic is one of a few clinical sites in the U.S. developing the most advanced vision-assisting devices available on the market. The clinic helps people of any age who are visually impaired and have only partial sight due to cataracts, glaucoma, macular degeneration, retinitis pigmentosa, detached retina, or stroke.

What’s new in low vision?

Emory optometrists are investigating a number of new technologies and devices, including these popular systems available only at a few centers in the United States:

• Implantable miniature telescope
  Due to receive FDA approval this summer, the telescope prosthesis is an intraocular device and implanted in a similar procedure like cataract surgery for bilateral, stable macular degeneration.
• Age-related macular degeneration and cortical reorganization
  Evidence suggests that the brain can be trained to reorganize itself faster and more efficiently to develop a new preferred retinal viewing area. Techniques for training are being studied and implemented.
• Bioptic telescope lenses
  Light and portable; fits onto a standard pair of glasses. Works like a self-focusing camera, only more precisely—magnifying distant images to four times normal size, close-range objects to five times normal size.
• Digital viewing system
  A virtual reality system, portable and self-focusing; magnifies images up to 30 times normal size. Provides distance and close-up vision in one system. Worn like a virtual reality helmet for viewing magnified images on a small screen in front of each eye; or placed into a reading stand over a book or newspaper for viewing magnified images on a standard TV screen.
• Electronic magnifier systems
  Advanced technology has allowed the development of many new electronic portable devices to increase vision both at distance and for reading. These devices have optically superior quality for crisp image viewing.

For appointments or more information about our physicians, please contact the Emory Eye Center Call Center.

Georgia Directory of Low Vision Services (January 2009)

Developed and produced by the Georgia Low Vision Task Force and the Georgia Low Vision Advisory Committee (Georgia Optometric Association)

Low Vision: What's Out There? What's New?

Low Vision Booklet (pdf)