App on prescription for children with low vision

App for children with poor eyesight to train eyes

03/26/2014

An app is designed to help children with special visual impairment to train their eyes and improve their vision. So far, however, only a statutory health insurance company will pay the costs for the 90-day training program, in which children with so-called amblyopia should play computer games daily for at least 30 minutes as part of the web-based simulation therapy.

Costs for App against poor eyesight are so far only taken over by a health insurance
Various child-friendly computer games are designed to help children suffering from functional vision deficiency amblyopia improve their vision. „The new therapy module is based on a method developed at the Dresden University of Technology, which was developed by the Berlin health start-up Caterna for today's web-based stimulation therapy“ informs the Barmer GEK, which so far is the only statutory health insurance company to pay for the app. By regular training with the computer simulation, the eyes should be strengthened. The program will start in April.

In Germany, according to the health insurance, about five percent of children suffer from amblyopia, which usually develops in early childhood. The risk factors include squinting and the lack of glasses despite visual impairment. Both result in the fact that the weaker eye is virtually switched off and spared. When the cause of amblyopia has been corrected, the weaker eye can be trained to improve its eyesight. First, the stronger eye is covered with a plaster, so that the weaker is increasingly required. In some cases, wearing the eye patch is sufficient to improve vision. If this is not the case, the app can be used, which is based on a simulation therapy. In various computer games such as Tetris, car racing or dice games, a moving stripe pattern runs across the screen in the background.

App makes it easier for children to treat their visual impairment
For 90 days, children who suffer from amblyopia and who have already had a patch therapy should play at least 30 minutes a day with the app. They continue to wear the eye patch. „In addition to the prospect of sharper vision, the procedure promises greater acceptance among the small patients“, reports the health insurance. Wearing an eye patch, many children feel uncomfortable. In combination with the computer games, however, the procedure could be seen as a leisure activity rather than an unpleasant therapy.

According to experts, around 15,000 apps around the topic of health are now on the market. These include blood pressure monitor, pain diary, pills alarm clock and nutrition guide. Whether these can actually be meaningfully used as a medical aid, however, is questionable in many apps. (Ag)

Image: Windorias