Apples for Health- Video game to cure lazy eye

Video game to cure lazy eye

TEL AVIV, Israel, June 23 (UPI) -- An Israeli eye and brain specialist has developed computer therapy for lazy eye syndrome or amblyopia.

Dr. Uri Polat of the Goldschleger Eye Research Institute at Tel Aviv University in Israel says he developed computer therapy for the eye disorder, but the treatment is currently only available for adults.

The existing game-like therapy for the computer was "a bit boring," making it hard for some children to sit through an entire session of treatment, which can be administered by a parent or therapist at home or at school, Polat said.

"As far as I know this is really a one-of-a-kind, non-invasive and effective way to treat lazy eye, without the use of an embarrassing eye patch," Polat said in a statement. "This is probably the first treatment that attempts to correct lazy eyes in adults, something that doctors had previously given up on. Doctors don't suggest intervention after ... age 9, because it usually doesn't work."

The new treatment, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, was designed by Polat to keep the patient constantly expecting the unexpected. Twenty hours of computer treatment is estimated to have the same effect as 500 hours of eyepatch wear in correcting the eye function neurons in the brain.