Biofeedback with Visual Pathfinder A10 V. Parisi2, I. Domanico1, E. Gerace1, Enzo M. Vingolo1 1
2
Università degli studi di Roma “Sapienza”- Policlinico Umberto I, Roma. 2Ospedale “S.M.Goretti”-Latina.
Fondazione G.B. Bietti-Istituto di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico (IRCCS), Rome, Italy.
Purpose To valuate the effects of the rehabilitation of visually impaired patients performed with the Visual Pathfinder A10 . Methods We enrolled five patients and they underwent an initial comprehensive eye exam . The treatment was composed of 10 sessions of 10 minutes for each eye once a week. At the end of treatment we assessed visual acuity ( LogMAR ), reading speed and visual evoked potentials (VEP) in accordance with the ISCEV standards. The statistical analysis was performed with the Student's t test. P value less than 0.05 were considered statistically significant. Results Visual acuity increased from 0.67 ± 0.19 to 0.36 ± 0.22 logMAR at the end of treatment (p = 0.027). PEV showed a rise of the amplitude of P100 from 2.50 ± 1.60 to 5.20 ± 2.54 µV at the end of follow up (p = 0.04). The average reading speed increased from 41.3 words/min to 48.7 words/min . Conclusions This is a first study that assessed the effects of biofeedback treatment with Visual Pathfinder A10 . In our experience we noticed visual acuity improvements, an increase of the speed of reading and of visual evoked potentials. These results have been obtained probably due to its dual-feedback method, acoustic and visual, to the filtering of the phase parameter and the possibility of adjusting the response minimum and maximum threshold. Further studies are needed to investigate the effects of this instrument in comparison with the previous system.