AB019. A proposed test of stereovision to identify local retinal abnormalities

Abstract

Background: The human visual system extracts depth information from disparity in the images seen by the two eyes. The ability to calculate depth from disparity will be disrupted if local retinal abnormalities distort parts of those images, especially if these distortions are different in the two eyes. In its early stages, age-related macular degeneration (AMD) causes slight distortions in the central vision field which differ in the two eyes. AMD is the most common form of irreversible blindness in people over the age of 50. The goal of this project is to develop a stereoscopic perception test which leverages the sensitivity of binocular depth perception to detect the interocular differences symptomatic of either early-stage AMD or other diseases affecting the retina.