Eye treatment system for myopia and hyperopia

Abstract

Described herein is a method of therapeutic treatment, including tracking a location of a user's gaze on a video display, determining a central gaze location of the user, playing back images or video on the video display while modifying the images / video in areas that surround the central gaze location, and continually repeating this process for a predetermined period of time. A therapeutic device further includes an eye / gaze tracking device, a computing device for modifying a video, and a video display.

Description

EYE TREATMENT SYSTEM FOR MYOPIA AND HYPEROPIARELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application Serial No. 63 / 566,817 filed March 18, 2024 entitled Eye Treatment System For Myopia And Hyperopia, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] In children, a self-correcting mechanism adjusts the growth of the eye so that the light-sensitive retina is located where images of the visual world are focused (the focal plane), producing clearly focused vision (“emmetropia”). This mechanism uses visual cues to determine if the eye is too short (hyperopia) or has grown too long (myopia) relative to the focal plane and adjusts eye growth to move the retina back to emmetropia.

[0003] However, this mechanism can sometimes result in the eyes becoming too long so they are myopic (nearsighted) or too short so they are hyperopic. Current treatments aimed at preventing or slowing the development of myopia or hyperopia have achieved only modest success.SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0004] One example aspect includes a method of therapeutic treatment, comprising tracking a location of a user’s gaze on a video display, determining a central gaze location of the user, playing back images or video on the video display while modifying the images / video in areas that surround the central gaze location, and continually repeating this process for a predetermined period of time.

[0005] In one specific example, the modification may include decreasing a blue contrast relative to a red contrast to slow the axial growth of a user’s eye for myopia treatment. In another specific example, the modification may include increasing a blue contrast relative to a red contrast to increase the axial growth of a user’s eye for hyperopia treatment. These contrast changes may be achieved in different ways, such as by adjusting contrast values of the surrounding area of the video display, applyinga blur filter to the surrounding area of the video display, increasing or decreasing luminance levels of individual colors, changing a frequency of display one or more colors of the surrounding area of the video display, or similar techniques.

[0006] One example treatment system includes a video display, an eye / gaze tracking device, and a computer or computing device. Each of these items may be discrete units connected to each other via cables or they may be integrated into a single unit. The eye / gaze tracking device monitors and tracks the gaze location of the user on the video display and then the computing device modifies an image or video such that a peripheral area surrounding a central gaze location (e.g., a location generally viewed by a user’s central vision areas) is modified.

[0007] The modification of the video in the surrounding area may generally include increasing or decreasing a contrast of colors relative to each other (e.g., between red and blue), increasing or decreasing a luminance of all colors or specific colors, increasing or decreasing a display frequency, or blurring one or more colors (e.g., applying a blur filter to one or more colors, such as red or blue). Additionally, while only one technique may be used, two or more techniques may alternatively be used.

[0008] In one specific example, the modification may include decreasing a blue contrast relative to a red contrast to slow the axial growth of a user’s eye for myopia treatment. In another specific example, the modification may include increasing a blue contrast relative to a red contrast to increase the axial growth of a user’s eye for hyperopia treatment. These contrast changes may be achieved in different ways, such as by adjusting contrast values of the surrounding area of the video display, applying a blur filter to the surrounding area of the video display, increasing or decreasing luminance levels of individual colors, changing a frequency of display of one or more colors of the surrounding area of the video display, or similar techniques.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0009] These and other aspects, features and advantages of which embodiments of the invention are capable of will be apparent and elucidated from the following description of embodiments of the present invention, reference being made to the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0010] Fig. 1 is a therapeutic device for tracking eye movement and modifying aspects of a video display.

[0011] Fig. 2 is a therapeutic device for tracking eye movement and modifying aspects of a video display.

[0012] Fig. 3 is a therapeutic device for tracking eye movement and modifying aspects of a video display.DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0013] Specific embodiments of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. This invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art. The terminology used in the detailed description of the embodiments illustrated in the accompanying drawings is not intended to be limiting of the invention. In the drawings, like numbers refer to like elements.

[0014] While different embodiments may be described in this specification, it is specifically contemplated that any of the features from different embodiments can be combined together in any combination. In other words, the features of different embodiments can be mixed and matched with each other. Hence, while every permutation of features from different embodiments may not be explicitly shown, it is the intention of this specification to cover any such combinations.

[0015] The retina is the tissue just in front of the sclera that detects light, processes visual images and sends them through the optic nerve to central brain areas that produce visual perception. Typically, for visual images to appear clear and unblurred, the light entering the eye must be focused on the retina. Light initially passes through the cornea which accomplishes most of the focusing, then through the pupil created by the iris, and then through the crystalline lens that accomplishes the remaining fine tuning of the focusing onto the retina.

[0016] To achieve focus on the retina, the axial length of the eye must be such that the image is positioned or located at a proper focal distance. If the axial length is short relative to the focal distance, the images on the retina are blurry and the eye is considered hyperopic. If the axial length places the retina behind the focal distance, images also are blurry and the eye is considered myopic.

[0017] At birth, most human and animal eyes are hyperopic because the axial length of the eye is short relative to the focal distance. During postnatal development, the eye grows longer and is self-corrected via a feedback mechanism called “emmetropization”.

[0018] As a result of longitudinal chromatic aberration (LCA), longer wavelengths are blurred when shorter wavelengths are in focus, and vice versa. As a result, LCA affects the color and temporal aspects of the retinal image with hyperopic defocus. It is believed that emmetropization uses the out-of-focus images to guide the eye to grow until images are in focus on the retina and then controls further growth to keep the retina at the focal plane so images remain in focus. It is believed that the processes involved in emmetropization are guided by a variety of cues, including retinal defocus and changes in color and luminance contrast. Each of these cues are dependent on the spatial, temporal, and spectral properties of the stimulus. When emmetropization fails to match the axial length of the eye to its proposed focal distance, and the eye grows too long for its optics, myopia typically arises.

[0019] According to one hypothesis, if the contrast of red light (absorbed primarily by the L-cones and about 620-750 nm) is greater than the contrast of blue light (absorbed primarily by the S-cones and about 450-495 nm), then the growth rate is normal, as is the situation when an eye is emmetropic. Conversely, if the blue contrast is greater than the red contrast, then the growth rate is accelerated, which can lead to greater myopia.

[0020] According to another theory of temporal frequency, defocus alters the rate of temporal modulation of a scanned retinal image, when coupled with eye and body motion. Scanning a focused retinal image of a high spatial frequency target will produce a higher rate of temporal modulation than a blurred image, through the loss of high spatial frequency components. It has been suggested that high temporalfrequency flicker stimulation simulates an eye that is in focus. Indeed, several experiments in cats, chick, guinea pig, and mice have shown that high temporal frequencies are associated with reduced eye growth, while low temporal frequency stimuli have been associated with increased eye growth. These experiments appear to demonstrate that the rate of temporal modulation is a key factor in emmetropization.

[0021] According to another theory, spectral content influences the growth rate of an eye. In chicks, low temporal frequency modulation produces a wide range of axial growth rates that are dependent on the spectra of the illuminant. Specifically, chick eyes exposed to broadband light modulation that included short-wavelength, low frequency flicker, did not grow as much as those that had restricted short-wavelength exposure. Also, chicks exposed for 3 days to a modulated white light, with a blue bias, showed significantly less growth than chicks exposed to one with a red bias. Thus, at low temporal frequencies, the emmetropization system in chick was dependent on the detection of the shorter focal length of blue light to restrict excessive growth. Overall, the results indicated that at a low temporal frequency, wavelength defocus is a key visual stimulus that guides the eye's growth.

[0022] According to another theory, the contrast, or amplitude, of a temporally modulated luminance stimulus also influences chick eye growth. Changes in eye growth as a function of the luminance contrast of a temporally modulated stimulus have found that high temporal frequencies reduced eye growth when luminance contrast exceeded 70%. High contrast, high temporal frequency, and luminance modulation produced a sharp decrease in chick eye growth.

[0023] According to another theory, the growth rate of the eye is believed to be influenced in part by the optical properties of the image outside the fovea. The fovea is a small depression at the center of the retina that is responsible for central vision. For example, if the contrast of red light outside the fovea is greater than the contrast of blue light outside the fovea, then the growth rate is normal. Conversely, if the blue contrast is greater than the red contrast outside the fovea, then the growth rate is accelerated, which can lead to greater myopia.

[0024] The present specification includes methods and devices for treating myopia by providing a video display that adjusts its image to blur a portion or all of videoimages displayed on the display. For example, the contrast of the display may be adjusted such that a blue contrast is less than a red contrast on at least a portion of the display to thereby slow axial growth of a user’s eye. In another specific example, only an area of the display located around an area of the user’s central gaze location (e.g., a periphery) is defocused / blurred. The location of the central gaze location may be achieved with eye or gaze tracking equipment and software, and then the visual properties of the display may be changed in areas of the display surrounding the central gaze location.

[0025] The present specification includes methods and devices for treating hyperopia by providing a video display that adjusts its image to blur a portion or all of video images displayed on the display. For example, the contrast of the display may be adjusted such that a blue contrast is more than a red contrast on at least a portion of the display to thereby slow axial growth of a user’s eye. In another specific example, only an area of the display located around an area of the user’s central gaze location (e.g., a periphery) is defocused / blurred. The location of the central gaze location may be achieved with eye or gaze tracking equipment and software, and then the visual properties of the display may be changed in areas of the display surrounding the central gaze location.

[0026] In one example aspect, a treatment system includes a video monitor or display, an eye or gaze tracking device, and a video processing device.

[0027] The video display / monitor may be any TV, computer monitor, or similar video display capable of displaying color video. Such a display may be LCD, OLED, or similar technologies. Such a display may include refresh rates of 24 Hz, 30 Hz, 60 Hz, 120 Hz, 124 Hz, 240 Hz, or similar common refresh rates.

[0028] The eye or gaze tracking device may be one of the many commercially available eye tracking devices currently available, such as the Tobii Pro Fusion screen-based eye tracker, Tobii Pro Spectrum Eye Tracker, or the Tobii Pro Glasses 3. The eye or gaze tracking device may alternatively comprise a video camera connected to a computer that runs eye or gaze tracking software which determines a central gaze location based on video of the user’s eyes. Examples of such softwarexLabs, GazePointer, MyEye, Ogama, openEyes, PyGaze, Open Gazer, and TurkerGaze.

[0029] The video processing device may comprise a computer or computing device that executes software which adjusts aspects of a video or image displayed on the video display. For example, the video processor may receive an input from the eye or gaze tracking software indicating coordinates of a user’s gaze, determine a size of a central gaze location where the video / image is unchanged, determine a peripheral area surrounding the central gaze location where the video / image will be modified, and finally modifying the video / image of the peripheral area. Modifications of the peripheral area include blurring certain colors or range of color frequencies (e.g., blue or red), adjusting a contrast of certain colors or range of color frequencies (e.g., blue or red), adjusting a display frequency of certain colors or range of color frequencies (e.g., blue or red), adjusting a brightness level or luminance of certain colors or range of color frequencies (e.g., blue or red), or adjusting two or more of these features in any combination. The video processing on the monitor / TV may be a spectral blur in which the image is processed in a way that it is degraded for either blue or red wavelengths to either suppress or drive axial length growth, as previously described. This may be a “mathematical blur” where the image is decomposed into colors, the blur is caused on some of the colors (not others) then reassembled into the resulting image (e.g., frame(s) of a video).

[0030] The term central gaze location is used in this specification and generally means a location from which light enters one or more of a user’s eyes and hits a central region of their retina or a retinal area that makes up the user’s central vision (e.g., macula and fovea). This term may also be known as a central vision area, an area of central vision. It should also be understood that this term is used to describe an estimation of such an area by eye tracking hardware / software and video processing hardware / software. Therefore, these terms may include both a location from which light enters one or more of a user’s eyes and hits a central region of their retina or a retinal area that makes up the user’s central vision, as well as a calculated estimate of such an area.

[0031] One example treatment system 100 is illustrated in Figs. 1 , 2, and 3. Specifically, the system 100 includes a video display 102, an eye / gaze tracking device 104, and a computer 106. Each of these items may be discrete units connected to each other via cables (e.g., USB, HDMI, Display Port) or they may be integrated into a single unit (e.g., within the outer housing of the video display 102.

[0032] As previously discussed, the video display 102 may be a TV, computer monitor, or similar color display capable of displaying color video. For example, the video display 102 may include an LCD or OLED display panel. The video display 102 may display a static image, a series of static images, text that may be read, or a video.

[0033] The eye / gaze tracking device 104 may be a standalone unit that determines a location of a central gaze location of a user 10 and communicates that data to the computer. In that respect, the eye / gaze tracking device 104 may include a camera or similar sensor device, a memory for storing computer code, and a processor for executing the computer code. Alternatively, the eye / gaze tracking device 104 may be a video camera (e.g., a web cam) that is connected to the computer 106 to provide video of the user’s eyes while gaze tracking software stored in memory of the computer and executed by a processor of the computer analyzes the video and determines a user’s central gaze location.

[0034] As previously discussed, the computer 106 may have a memory for storing computer code and a processor for executing computer code. The computer may be a “stand alone” computer system or may be a laptop computer, in which case the video display 102 and any video camera are all integrated into a single device.

[0035] The computer 106 may include software that modifies and plays back video on the video display 102. Generally, the software determines a central gaze location on the video display 106, shown as area 110 in Fig. 2, and then modifies the video displayed in the area 112 surrounding the area 110. Hence, this results in an area of unmodified video (at least with regard to treatment purposes) that is received by the user’s central vision and an area of modified video that is received by the user’s peripheral vision. This may minimize discomfort in viewing the video while still providing a therapeutic benefit.

[0036] The eye / gaze tracking device 104 may be already configured to provide a desired area 110 of the central gaze location. Alternatively, the eye / gaze tracking device 104 may only provide a single coordinate or point on the video display 102, in which case the software on the computer 106 may determine a desired size and shape of the area 1 10 that best represents central gaze location that will reach the central vision of the user.

[0037] As seen in Fig. 2, the surrounding area 112 of modified video may be a circular shape surrounding area 1 10, or as seen in Fig. 3, the surrounding area 1 12 may encompass all areas of the display aside from area 110. While the area 110 is illustrated as a circle, other shapes are also possible, such as an oval, square, rectangle, or similar shapes.

[0038] The modification to the area 112 may be uniform throughout this area, may increase in its strength (e.g., greater contrast, blur, etc.) as the distance away from area 1 10 increases, or may otherwise vary throughout area 112. Alternatively, instead of two different discrete areas 110 and 112, the modification may gradually increase based on distance from a central point of the gaze tracking location. Alternatively, or additionally, the amount of modification (e.g., blur, contrast) may vary over time (e.g., increase or decrease over time). This increase or decrease over time may be further based on measurements of the user’s eyes to determine an efficacy of the therapeutic treatment, such as choroidal thickness measurements.

[0039] While the area of 110 may be unmodified for therapeutic purposes, the video in this area may also be modified for therapeutic purposes in a manner different from that of area 112. For example, the colors in area 110 may be adjusted in color, brightness or frequency in a manner different than area 112 so as to help enhance the therapeutic effect of the video modification in area 1 12 on the user’s peripheral vision.

[0040] The modification of the video in the surrounding area 1 12 may generally include increasing or decreasing a contrast of colors relative to each other (e.g., between red and blue), increasing or decreasing a luminance of all colors or specific colors, increasing or decreasing a display frequency, or blurring one or more colors (e.g., applying a blur filter to one or more colors, such as red or blue). Additionally, while only one technique may be used, two or more techniques may alternatively beused. Further, with regard to the use of contrast and blurring, these concepts may be somewhat related or overlapping. For example, the blurring may be seen as being altering the resolution of a video frame(s) and contrast may be seen as the difference of light to dark. Generally the blur may also degrade the contrast and may tend to smooth out the transitions from light to dark so portions of the video are more gray.

[0041] In one specific example, the modification may include decreasing a blue contrast relative to a red contrast to slow the axial growth of a user’s eye for myopia treatment. In another specific example, the modification may include increasing a blue contrast relative to a red contrast to increase the axial growth of a user’s eye for hyperopia treatment. These contrast changes may be achieved in different ways, such as by adjusting contrast values of the surrounding area 112 of the video display 102, applying a blur filter to the surrounding area 112 of the video display 102, increasing or decreasing luminance levels of individual colors, changing a frequency of display one or more colors of the surrounding area 1 12 of the video display 102, or similar techniques.

[0042] If a blur filter is used, the degree of blur for one or more colors (e.g., of the blue channel) can be based on a predetermined point spread function (PSF). A perfect in focus image may have a PSF that looks like a delta function. Most images have a PSF that looks like a gaussian function, so each pixel in an image affects the pixels around it, which is the cause of blur on a display. The present PSF function may be convolved with the blue channel image to create a blurred image. Furthermore, the degree of blur can be varied over time as part of the treatment program to further control the rate of axial growth.

[0043] One example aspect includes a method of therapeutic treatment, comprising tracking a location of a user’s gaze on a video display, determining a central gaze location of the user, playing back images or video on the video display while modifying the images / video in areas that surrounds the central gaze location, and continually repeating this process for a predetermined period of time.

[0044] Although the invention has been described in terms of particular embodiments and applications, one of ordinary skill in the art, in light of this teaching, can generate additional embodiments and modifications without departing from thespirit of or exceeding the scope of the claimed invention. Accordingly, it is to be understood that the drawings and descriptions herein are proffered by way of example to facilitate comprehension of the invention and should not be construed to limit the scope thereof.

Claims

What is claimed is:1 . A method of treating an eye condition, comprising: tracking a location of a user’s gaze on a video display; determining a central gaze location of the user; playing back images or video on the video display while modifying the images or video in areas that surround the central gaze location, and continually repeating this process for a predetermined period of time.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the modifying the images or video in the areas that surround the central gaze location comprises decreasing a blue contrast relative to a red contrast to slow the axial growth of a user’s eye for myopia treatment.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the modifying the images or video in the areas that surround the central gaze location comprises increasing a blue contrast relative to a red contrast to increase the axial growth of a user’s eye for hyperopia treatment.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the modifying the images or video in the areas that surround the central gaze location comprises adjusting contrast values, applying a blur filter, increasing or decreasing luminance levels of individual colors, or changing a frequency of display of one or more colors.

5. An eye treatment system comprising: a video display; an eye / gaze tracking device; and, computing device connected to the video display to display images and connected to the eye / gaze tracking device to receive a central gaze location; wherein the computing device further comprises video modification software that modifies the image or video in areas of the video display that surround the central gaze location to achieve a therapeutic outcome of an eye of a user.

6. The eye treatment system of claim 5, wherein the video modification software modifies the image or video in areas of the video display that surround the centralgaze location by performing one or more of: adjusting contrast values, applying a blur filter, increasing or decreasing luminance levels of individual colors, and changing a frequency of display of one or more colors.

7. The eye treatment system of claim 5, wherein the video modification software modifies the image or video in areas of the video display that surround the central gaze location by decreasing a blue contrast relative to a red contrast to slow the axial growth of a user’s eye for myopia treatment.

8. The eye treatment system of claim 5, wherein the video modification software modifies the image or video in areas of the video display that surround the central gaze location by increasing a blue contrast relative to a red contrast to increase the axial growth of a user’s eye for hyperopia treatment.

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