Objective Acuity’s Trials Confirm Visual Acuity Testing Breakthrough

AUCKLAND, New Zealand

Objective Acuity has reached a significant milestone in its development of the world’s first, objective, visual acuity test.

It has successfully concluded proof of concept trials on adults at the Southern College of Optometry in Memphis.

The New Zealand-based, digital vision health company’s current lead investors including the University of Auckland Inventors Fund and Cure Kids Ventures, along with other seed and angel investors.

Objective Acuity’s platform provides an objective, accurate and reliable approach to testing visual acuity. The proprietary technology uses moving patterns on a screen, recorded on camera, to capture involuntary, reflexive eye movements known as Optokinetic Nystagmus (OKN).

Adam Podmore, Objective Acuity’s chief executive, says the trial results demonstrate a strong correlation between threshold visual acuity scores (such as 20/20 vision) measured by Objective Acuity’s test and the traditional ETDRS visual acuity letter chart.

Southern College’s Professor Paul Harris, a fellow of the National Academies of Practice for Optometry and previous president of the United States’ Optometric Extension Foundation Programme, says his team is now undertaking a larger trial of 100 adults.

An objective threshold visual acuity test is an important advancement in vision testing, as it can be used in circumstances where current testing methods prove ineffective and unreliable. Objective Acuity’s test requires no verbal response and is therefore ideal for patients, of all ages, who have difficulty communicating with optometrists or ophthalmologists.

Given the future automation of vision testing, online optometrists and recent developments in identifying eye diseases through artificial intelligence, Objective Acuity has many applications.

Earlier this year Objective Acuity completed a proof of concept paediatric trial in Dallas Texas, Melbourne and Auckland.

“The latest adult data backs up the test results from our paediatric trial,” Podmore says. “After the success of both trials, we are now completing product development of two tests: an objective, clinically-relevant measure of visual acuity and a screening test for children under five, which can be used to identify vision problems earlier and with more accuracy than current screening tools allow.”

Objective Acuity is attending the VisionExpo conference, Las Vegas, September 26 – 29.

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