Scientists develop easier test for blindness

Scientists claim to have developed a quick and accurate test 

for one of the world’s leading causes of blindness.

Researchers from Australia’s Vision Centre demonstrated the 

test under lights for age-related macular degeneration (AMD) 

- one of the world’s leading causes of blindness.

A new study shows that age-related macular degeneration 

(AMD) can be just as effectively and more rapidly and 

inexpensively diagnosed under bright lights, instead of 

requiring patients to sit for 20 minutes in a darkened room.

While current tests for AMD are done in the light, scientists 

have proposed that it might be better if the patient has their 

vision adapted to the dark prior to the test.

This is because they had found that rod receptors - vision 

cells that we use to see in black and white and in low light - 

die earlier in AMD than the cone receptors we use to see in 

colour during the day. So it had been suggested that AMD 

tests would be more accurate if they were based on the 

health of a person’s rods.

Recent research, however, has shown that the eye’s cones, 

while dying later than rods, start to deteriorate at the same 

time as the ‘night vision’ cells.

Using the True-Field Analyser, researchers tested how pupils 

respond to images on LCD screens.

The scientists found little to no difference in the results - with 

the True-Field Analyser, we could diagnose AMD just as well 

regardless of how much light the eyes were exposed to during 

the test.

Our research indicates that it’s not necessary for people to be 

dark-adapted, which eliminates any long waiting periods and 

the need for dark rooms. So it is an easier test than was 

previously thought, researchers said.