Page 30 - The Indian Optician Digital Edition January-February 2022

CEREBRAL does suggest that attending to children’s visual needs, such

VISUAL as making things bigger or less cluttered, might be a good place
to start.”
IMPAIRMENT IN The researchers concluded that there should be comprehensive

CHILDREN vision assessment of all children who need additional support at
school, in addition to the ongoing paediatrician and educational
psychology evaluations.
A new study published in
Developmental Medicine & Child NEW BIOMARKERS TO

Neurology implies that one in DETECT DIABETES-RELATED
every 30 primary school children
may be affected with cerebral BLINDNESS EARLIER
visual impairment (CVI).
Researchers from the Indiana University School of Optometry
In a study conducted by the have identified new biomarkers that may enable the early detection
University of Bristol Medical of diabetic retinopathy, a leading cause of blindness in U.S. adults.
School, researchers assessed
data acquired from 2298 children “Early detection of retinal damage from diabetes is possible to
between five to 11 years of age obtain with painless methods and might help identify undiagnosed
across 12 schools. This data was patients early enough to diminish the consequences of uncontrolled
collected through teacher and diabetes,” said study co-author Ann E. Elsner, a Distinguished
parent questionnaires. Two Professor at the IU School of Optometry.
hundred and forty-eight children In its initial stages, diabetes can affect the eyes before the changes
were examined for brain-related are noticed through regular clinical examination. However, thanks to
visual issues consistent with CVI. new retinal research these changes can now be detected earlier than
previously possible with the help of specialised optical techniques
The study team found that
the incidence of at least one and computer analysis. This finding will allow physicians to better
CVI-related vision problem in the manage diabetic or visually impaired people.
tested sample was 3.4 per cent. The IU-led method allows earlier detection because of the
The difficulties noted included retinal image processing algorithms described in the study which
eye movements, visual field, appears in the journal PLOS One. “Many algorithms use any image
recognition of objects and seeing information that differs between diabetic patients and controls,
things in clutter. Visual acuity which can identify which individuals might have diabetes, but these
was compromised in 15 per cent can be non-specific,” Elsner said. “Our method can be combined with
of children with at least one CVI- the other AI methods to provide early information localised to specific
related vision problem. retinal layers or types of tissues, which allows inclusion of information
Additionally, the team noted not analysed in the other algorithms.”
that children receiving support Elsner conducted the retinal image analysis in her lab at the
for special educational needs IU School of Optometry’s Borish Center for Ophthalmic Research,
were much more likely to along with her co-author, Joel A. Papay, a Ph.D. student in the Vision
have at least one CVI-related Science Program at the school. Data collected from volunteers with
vision problem (four in every 10 diabetes was used along with healthy control subjects. Additional
children). data were also collected from a diabetic retinopathy screening
of members of the underserved community at the University of
The study’s lead author
Dr Cathy Williams, said: “While California, Berkeley, and Alameda Health.
this does not prove that these The computer analysis was performed on retinal image data
kind of vision problems are the commonly collected in well-equipped clinics. However, the
cause of the difficulties with researchers’ state that much of the information used in the study is
learning for any particular child, it often ignored for diagnosis or management of patients.

| JAN-FEB 2022 | 26 OPTOMETRY NEWS