Evaluation of a Head Mounted Electronic Visual Enhancement Device in Low Vision Patients
Phase: NA
Conditions: Macular Degeneration, Age-Related, Diabetic Retinopathy
Sponsor: University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center

 
 
 
Evaluation of a Head Mounted Electronic Visual Enhancement Device  
in Low Vision Patients 
 
 
NCT-03794752 
 
10-10-2016 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas 
Institutional Review Board 
 
PROJECT SUMMARY 
 
Principal Investigator: Ufret-Vincenty, Rafael, MD 
 
Sub-Investigator:  Sagar Patel , MD 
 
Study Title: Evaluation of a Head Mounted Electronic Visual Enhancement Device in 
Low Vision Patients 
 
Name and Address of Study Sponsor:  
Evergaze Technology LLC 
1878 Firman Drive 
Richardson, TX 75081 USA 
(972) 896-4937 
pantaki@evergaze.com 
 
Purpose:  To investigate the visual impact of a head-mounted electronic visual 
enhancement device in individuals with low-vision.  
 
Background: Retinal Degeneration (RDEG) is a very prevalent blinding disease.   An 
estimated 30% of the population older than 75 years of age has some degree of 
macular degeneration. About 12% of patients with RDEG end up having advanced 
disease.  Several studies have shown that self-reported quality-of-life scores for 
patients with choroidal neovascularization (CNV) secondary to  RDEG are worse 
than those reported by patients with AIDS (receiving treatment) and chronic 
obstructive pulmonary disease.  Moreover, the levels of anxiety and depression 
were comparable.  Despite recent advances in the treatment of choroidal 
neovascularization, every week we see patients that can attest to the fact that 
clinical outcomes remain suboptimal; patients that lose their ability to read, drive, 
or recognize the faces of their grandchildren and friends despite receiving the best 
 
 

treatments available.  Diabetic Retinopathy is another very prevalent disease. In the 
U.S., diabetes affects over 18.2 million people.  Retinopathy is the most common 
microvascular complication of diabetes, resulting in blindness for over 10,000 
people with diabetes per year.  Visual loss can be due to macular edema, macular 
ischemia, or neovascular complications.  The loss of vision due to DR has an 
enormous impact on the quality of patients’ daily lives, and also results in a 
significant reduction of productivity, imposing a significant socioeconomic burden 
on our society and on the millions of people who suffer from such disease 
Head mounted displays represent a technology that has the potential to increase 
visual function in patients with low vision.  However, current research on 
stereoscopic and monocular wearable visual enhancement devices has been 
conducted on individuals with good vision, and using display patterns which were 
not developed for low-vision applications.  As a result, little is known about the 
effectiveness of these displays on improving visual function and mobility, and 
reducing asthenopia in visually impaired individuals. 
 
Head-mounted visual enhancement device design: 
Evergaze Technology LLC, has designed a head mounted electronic visual 
enhancement device that is compact and similar to glasses. It will be powered by a 
battery pack connected to the device. The electronic display will be affixed over only 
one of the user’s eyes. The vision through the unobstructed eye will aid with the 
subject’s balance and spatial orientation.  The concept of providing each eye with a 
different image is not novel.  It has been demonstrated to be tolerated successfully 
in patients with different refractive correction for each eye (monovision), and also 
in patients that have been implanted with a miniature telescope in one eye. 
 
The prototype display and camera will be connected to a battery pack/control box 
that will allow the user to quickly select one of 3 modes.  Each mode will represent a 
combination of parameters inverted black/white magnification) designed to 
optimize the image for different activities (e.g. reading, walking, computer use).   
 

 
 
 
Figure 1.  3D printout of a prototype design for the visual enhancement device. 
 
Concise Summary of Project: 
This study will be a prospective, non-randomized study of low-vision individuals 
diagnosed with either retinal degeneration   RDEG) or diabetic macular edema with 
ETDRS visual acuity from 20/60 to 20/400 in both eyes from the University of Texas 
- Southwestern (UTSW) Medical Center at Dallas. Specifically, the primary objective 
of this testing is to establish the benefits of a wide field-of-view (FOV) monocular 
head-mounted visual enhancement device display (HMD), aiding the most degraded 
eye, as compared to best corrected visual acuity with glasses.  It should be noted 
that in this approach, the HMD incorporates a camera, mounted coaxially with the 
visual axis of the eye with worse vision, and also image-enhancing or correction 
algorithms. Following review and execution of the informed consent, each subject 
will undergo an examination of their eyes, including: 1) ETDRS Best-corrected 

distance visual acuity; 2) Best-corrected near visual acuity; 3) Tests based on 
questions 5, 6, 7 and 11 of the National Eye Institute 25-item visual function 
questionnaire (NEI VFQ-25).  
 
a. Question 5: Reading speed using a standard paragraph 
English Paragraph Reference: 3-Minute Reading Assessments, Rasinski 
TV and Padak N, 2005. Scholastic Inc., NY 
Spanish Paragraph Reference: Reference: 
http://www.cuadernosdigitalesvindel.com/libres/lenguaje.php 
 
Grade 5:  Form A 
 
Last week, my family went to the county fair.  My father  
 
11 
is a volunteer firefighter, so he was working at the fair.  My 
 
23 
mom and sister and I went to meet him.  I am very glad we 
 
37 
did; it was a great night.  When we arrived, the fair was very 
 
50 
crowded and finding my dad was like finding a needle in a  
 
62 
haystack.  We finally found him because we heard the fire  
 
72 
truck siren blaring and knew he would be there.  Showing 
 
82 
off the fire truck is my dad’s favorite pastime; that truck is 
 
94 
his pride and joy. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
98 
Grade 5:  Form C 
 
 
Lightning crashes, thunder booms, and the earth shakes  
  
8 
with the power of the storm.  This storm is holding us captive  
20 
in the lobby of the grocery store.  Looking out the huge  
 
31 
glass windows, we see an angry sky.  It seems to be daring 
 
43 
us to come outside and make a mad dash for our car. 
 
 
55 
Through the pelting rain we see our brave little minivan.  It is  
67 
just waiting for us to fill its trunk with the week’s food and its  
81 
seats with our bodies. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
85 
Another brilliant flash of lightning illuminates the sky.  
 
93 
 
Grade 5:  Form D 
 
 
John has been my friend for as long as I can remember.  
 
12 
Our houses are next to each other.  In the winter, when the 
 
24 
last of the leaves are off the trees, I can see into his family 
 
38 
room from my window. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
42 
 
When I first met John, he was as shy as a field mouse. 
 
 
55 
He got nervous every time I came near and seemed 
 
 
65 

terrified of me.  Once we got to know each other better,  
 
76 
John came out of his shell.  We discovered that we liked all 
 
88 
the same things and disliked the same things, too. 
 
Grade 5. Párrafo #1 
 
En África central hay una selva tropical que por un tiempo permaneció oculta 
y secreta. A finales de los años de 1800, el resto del mundo sabía muy poco 
sobre la gente y los animales que vivían allí. Los primeros exploradores 
hablaban sobre un animal raro y misterioso que vieron en esa selva tropical. 
La gente que vivía allí lo llamaba okapi. El okapi pasa la mayor parte del día 
caminando solo por la selva en busca de comida. Arranca hojas y frutos de los 
árboles con su lengua que es lo suficientemente larga como para limpiarse 
sus ojos y orejas. (101) 
 
Grade 5. Párrafo #2 
 
Walt Disney nació en Chicago en 1901. Cuando todavía era muy joven, su 
familia se mudó de la ciudad a una granja en Missouri. A Walt Disney le 
emocionó el cambio, pero pronto se dio cuenta de que vivir en una granja 
significaba mucho trabajo.  
Walter ayudaba a su padre y hermanos a repartir periódicos para ganar 
dinero para la familia. Para ganar unos cuantos centavos para sí mismo, hacía 
trabajos adicionales. Uno de sus trabajos era el de repartir medicinas para 
una farmacia. Tenía otro trabajo en una tienda de dulces durante la hora de la 
comida de la escuela. (101) 
 
Grade 5. Párrafo #3 
 
Luchar contra el cambio climático puede empezar con un gesto tan sencillo 
como cambiar la iluminación de la casa. Las Bombilla incandescente, la de 
toda la vida, la que invento Edison hace mas de 100 años, se ha quedado en 
eso, en un  artilugio del siglo XIX. El 90% de la energía que consume la 
malgasta en generar calor. Solo un 10% de la electricidad se transforma en 
luz. Las nuevas bombillas de bajo consumo han multiplicado la eficiencia 
hasta el punto de que, si comenzaran a emplearse en todos los hogares, el 
efecto en la reducción de gases seria muy grande. (102) 
 
 
 
 
 

b. Question 6: Have a simple test of near visual-motor skills (i.e. a board 
with small cut-out shapes that the subjects need to put in the correct 
place) and measure the time it takes them to complete it. 
                                            
 
 
c. Question 7: Have a portable 3 to 5 shelf storage shelf with 20 random 
items.  Ask the patient to find one specific item.  Repeat 3 times and 
record the time it takes the patient for each attempt. 
       
 
 

                           
 
 
                    
 
 
 
 
 
 

d. Question 11: Show the patient a 15-20 second video (without the audio 
track) showing a conversation between 2 individuals. Following the 
video, subjects will be queried about the facial expressions of the actors 
during the conversation. 
 
            
 
            
 
 
4) Having the patient fill out a questionnaire based on the tests administered. 
Subjects are not excluded based on gender, age, or race. In total, there is a plan to 
have 1 visit for this project. It should be noted the collection of above mentioned 
clinical data points will solely be used for the purpose of this research study.  
 
 
 
 

Study Procedures:  
 
It is expected that approximately 20 Aston clinic patients will be enrolled in this 
trial.  No bias or negative consequence will occur to anyone that does not wish to 
consider this project. After obtaining informed consent, the following procedures 
will be performed as an aspect of this study: 
 
 Document patient demographics including age, sex, race, and ethnicity 
 Review and document of medical and ophthalmic history 
 Review and document Ophthalmic diagnosis ( Retinal Degeneration or 
Diabetic Retinopathy) and onset time (in years and months if possible) 
 Review and document concomitant use of systemic and ophthalmic 
therapies including administration of all laser and anti-VEGF therapies 
 ETDRS Best Corrected Distance Visual Acuity will be performed 
 Best Corrected Near Visual Acuity will be performed using a near card 
reader 
 Wearing refraction (Glasses) will be measured and documented in source 
forms 
 National Eye Institute Visual Function exams will be administered to each 
subject as outlined in previous section with and without the head mounted 
visual assessment device.   During the testing portion of the head mounted 
visual assessment device, head and eye movements will be video recorded 
by one of the sponsor/manufacturer’s agents for this research project.. This 
will allow the team to assess what kinds of adjustments the subjects are 
making to optimize their view.   Patients will be given a 20-minute break 
between testing with and without the head mounted visual assessment 
device. 
 Administration and completion of patient questionnaire on their experience 
with the use of NEI Visual Function exams 
   A second study visit identical to this one may be repeated after a period of 
self-training at home with the device.  

 
Inclusion Criteria:  
 
1. Patient of any sex, race, or ethnicity who are 18 years of age or older. Spanish 
speaking patients will be encouraged to participate, Spanish forms will be 
available to review and execute. 
2. Patient willing to review, understand, and sign written Informed Consent. 
Parents or legal guardians will consent on behalf of minors. 
3. Written authorization for use or release of health and research study 
information. 
4. Patient who volunteers is suffering from a posterior segment ophthalmic 
disorder including Retinal Degeneration and/or Diabetic Retinopathy and 
visual acuity from 20/60 to 20/400 in the better Seeing Eye.  
 
Exclusion Criteria: 
1. Subjects will be excluded if they are less than 18 years of age.  
2. Subjects will not be considered for this research study if they will not review 
and execute the informed consent form.  
3. During the screening process, subjects will be excluded from further 
consideration if they are identified with having a potential ophthalmic 
diagnosis other than Retinal Degeneration or diabetic macular edema that 
could be negatively affecting the visual testing.  
4. ETDRS Visual Acuity better than 20/60 or worse than 20/400 
5. During screening, subjects will be disqualified from further assessment if it is 
determined that their refractive error is outside of the -5.00D to +5.00D 
corrective range. 
 
Sources of Research Material:  
 
Existing records, specimens, or other medical data will be used for data analysis. 
Name, date of birth, and medical record number initially will be used for the 
purpose of chart retrieval. Patient identifiers will initially be used for the purpose of 
identifying members and their relationship within the family. However, all patient 

identifying information will be excluded from the data analysis and subsequent 
reporting of findings.  The following information will be collected from each patient 
during the course of the study: Patient name, medical record number, and the date 
of clinic visit at which an ocular exam were taken will be collected solely for the 
purpose of retrieving study data at the conclusion of the trial. In addition, clinical 
data along with participant’s medical history will be recorded and assessed at the 
conclusion of the study. Data will be obtained specifically for research purpose, and 
not for any other intention. To reiterate, all patient identifying information will be 
excluded from the data analysis and subsequent reports of our findings and 
conclusions. 
 
Source documentation should be available to confirm data collected in the CRF: 
subject identification, eligibility, and study identification; study discussion, 
provision of and date of informed consent; visit date; result of efficacy parameters 
as required by the protocol; a record of adverse events; concomitant medication; 
study investigational product administration during lone visit; date of study 
completion; reason for early discontinuation of investigational product or 
withdrawal from the study, if applicable. It is recommended that the author of an 
entry in the source documents be identifiable. Adverse event notes should be 
reviewed and initialed by the Investigator. 
 
At a minimum, the type and level of detail of source data available for a study 
subject should be consistent with that commonly recorded at the site as a basis for 
standard medical care.  
 
Recruitment Methods and Consenting Process: 
 
 
Patient recruitment effort will commence at the James Aston Ambulatory Care 
Center. The Aston Center Medical Records (MR) department will be used to identify 
patients for this study. A history of retinopathy disorder (Retinal Degeneration 
and/or Diabetic retinopathy) will be used as basis for patient recruitment. 
Recruitment will be initiated from the PI’s practice clinics at UTSW. In addition, the 

PI will apprise fellow ophthalmology faculty members in the department regarding 
the nature of the study through written communication. A referral letter informing 
the ophthalmology faculty practice at UTSW Medical Center at Dallas will be made 
available to review. The PI will provide referring ophthalmologists at UTSW Medical 
Center at Dallas copies of IRB approved forms, including the informed consent. This 
form will be given by the referring clinician to interested patients during their visit 
to the clinic. 
For patients that are recruited from the PI’s clinic, the PI or the clinical coordinator 
will describe the study in detail and allow the patient time in order to make an 
informed decision. Consent is only given if the subject completely understands the 
IC and withdrawal provisions, and agrees to take part in the study. Consent form is 
signed by the patient who is seeking to join the study and by the principal, sub-
investigator, or clinical research coordinator. An executed copy is given to the 
patient; another is placed in the patient medical chart. The original IC is placed in 
the regulatory binder along with other important study documents. The regulatory 
binder is kept in a secure area in the research coordinator office. During the actual 
clinic visits, each procedure is explained to the subject.  
 
For interested patients that are referred from the faculty clinics at Aston, the 
coordinator will speak with the prospective patient after treating physician has 
spoken to the patient about the study and given them the appropriate literature to 
review. The clinical coordinator will describe the study in detail and allow time for 
the patient to make an informed decision only after the interested, prospective 
subject initiates contact with the coordinator regarding the study. 
 
Potential Risks: 
There are no known risks associated with the use of the head-mounted visual 
enhancement device, a similar device has been fabricated previously as a consumer 
test product for watching movies displayed as High Definition Cinema.  The 
exception of possible temporary disorientation, dizziness, or visual blur due to the 
monocular aspect of the device exists.   The patient will be sitting during the entire 

test, which will last about 2 hours.  The tester will be constantly supervising the 
patient during the exam.  Another area where there may be an opportunity for 
potential risk is in protecting patient privacy throughout the course of the study and 
following the conclusion of the project. A detailed plan is provided in “Procedures to 
Maintain Confidentiality”.  
 
 
Subject Safety and Data Monitoring:  
Careful oversight of patient safety and wellbeing will be undertaken by the Principal 
Investigator and Sub-Investigator on this study. In the event of an adverse event 
during the visits as required by the study protocol, treatment will be provided by 
the researcher on this study and the affected patient will be stabilized before exited 
from the study.   
 
Special Precautions:  
Procedures to protect against the potential risk of a breach of confidentiality are 
described in the following section.  Any additional physical or psychological risk to 
patients as a result of this prospective study is not foreseeable as the collection 
method utilized is typically used in the clinic for standard of care management. 
Subjects are informed verbally and in the consent form of the following: contact 
information and the phone number for investigator in case of an adverse event that 
occurs after the study is initiated. Moreover, the PI will monitor the study for quality 
assurance purposes. 
 
Procedures to Maintain Confidentiality: 
All subject data will remain confidential and access will be restricted to authorized 
study personnel only, including the principal investigator, sub-investigator, and the 
study research study. All study information and data will be secured in a locked area 
and accessible only to study investigators. Patient identifying information will be 
removed as the pertinent data is transferred to a data collection sheet so that there 

is no link to specific identifiers. All electronic study data will be password protected. 
Data will be presented in aggregate form to the sponsor without specific identifiers.  
 
The Investigator(s) / Institution(s) will permit trial-related monitoring, audits, IRB 
review and regulatory inspection(s) by providing direct access to source data / 
documents. Should the clinical site be contacted for an audit by an IRB or regulatory 
authority, study sponsor should be contacted and notified in writing within 24 
hours. 
Periodically, the IRB will examine research studies conducted at UTSW Medical 
Center at Dallas. This audit process confirms whether a research project is being 
performed in an ethical manner, the protection of an individual who has given 
consent, and the researcher or his designee is following the regulatory codes of the 
university and government agencies such as FDA. All effort will be made to ensure 
patient confidentiality but there are times where the IRB representative will need to 
review the patient record to ensure that all elements of the study are being properly 
documented as specified in the protocol.  
 
Potential Benefits: 
The subjects may not receive direct medical benefit from taking part in the study. 
The knowledge gained from the study is to help define systems requirements for a 
device to assist low-vision persons with increased functionality.  A $100 stipend will 
be provided to patients to help offset any inconvenience from the 2 hours study 
visits. 
 
Statistical Analysis Plan 
A pilot study for this trial (8-10 subjects) will test the feasibility of improving sight 
for low-vision individuals. Statistical analysis will be performed on results based on 
the tests described in the protocol. Paired T-test analysis will be used to determine 
whether there are differences in vision and recognition when subjects are wearing 
or not wearing the sight enhancement device. Once the pilot study data shows that 
there may be differences vision using in relation to the testing parameters when 

using the visual enhancement device, we will expand the study to a sample size of 
20 individuals to collect data that will be sufficient to achieve appropriate statistical 
power and determine whether there is statistical significance between using vision 
using the enhanced vision device and vision without the device.  
 
 

 
National Eye Institute 
Visual Functioning Questionnaire - 25 
(VFQ-25) 
 
Version 2000  
 
(INTERVIEWER ADMINISTERED FORMAT) 
January 2000  
RAND hereby grants permission to use the "National Eye Institute Visual Functioning Questionnaire 25 (VFQ-25) 
July 1996, in accordance with the following conditions which shall be assumed by all to have been agreed to as a 
consequence of accepting and using this document:  
1. 
1. Changes to the NEI VFQ-25 - July 1996 may be made without the written permission of RAND. 
However, all such changes shall be clearly identified as having been made by the recipient.  
2. 
2. The user of this NEI VFQ-25 - July 1996 accepts full responsibility, and agrees to hold RAND 
harmless, for the accuracy of any translations of the NEI VFQ-25 Test Version - July 1996 into another language 
and for any errors, omissions, misinterpretations, or consequences thereof.  
3. 
3. The user of this NEI VFQ-25 - July 1996 accepts full responsibility, and agrees to hold RAND 
harmless, for any consequences resulting from the use of the NEI VFQ-25.  
4. 
4. The user of the NEI VFQ-25 - July 1996 will provide a credit line when printing and distributing this 
document or in publications of results or analyses based on this instrument acknowledging that it was 
developed at RAND under the sponsorship of the National Eye Institute.  
5. 
5. No further written permission is needed for use of this NEI VFQ-25 - July 1996.  
 
© R 1996  
-1 -version 2000  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
Instructions:  
I’m going to read you some statements about problems which involve your vision 
or feelings that you have about your vision condition. After each question I will 
read you a list of possible answers. Please choose the response that best 
describes your situation.  
Please answer all the questions as if you were wearing your glasses or contact 
lenses (if any).  
Please take as much time as you need to answer each question. All your 
answers are confidential. In order for this survey to improve our knowledge about 
vision problems and how they affect your quality of life, your answers must be as 
accurate as possible. Remember, if you wear glasses or contact lenses for a 
particular activity, please answer all of the following questions as though you 
were wearing them.  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Visual Functioning Questionnaire -25 
 
PART 1 - GENERAL HEALTH AND VISION  
5. 
How much difficulty do you have reading ordinary print in 
newspapers?  Would you say you have:  
 (Circle One)  
No difficulty at all................................................... 1 A 
little 
difficulty...................................................... 
2 
Moderate difficulty................................................. 3 
Extreme difficulty................................................... 4 
Stopped doing this because of your eyesight .... 5 
Stopped doing this for other reasons or not 
interested in doing this ...................................... 6 
 
 
6. 
How much difficulty do you have doing work or hobbies that require 
you to see well up close, such as cooking, sewing, fixing things 
around the house, or using hand tools? Would you say:  
(READ CATEGORIES AS NEEDED)  
(Circle One)  
No difficulty at all................................................... 1 
A little difficulty...................................................... 2 
Moderate difficulty................................................. 3 
Extreme difficulty................................................... 4 
Stopped doing this because of your eyesight .... 5 
Stopped doing this for other reasons or not 
interested in doing this ...................................... 6 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

7. 
Because of your eyesight, how much difficulty do you have finding 
something on a crowded shelf?  
(READ CATEGORIES AS NEEDED)  
(Circle One)  
No difficulty at all................................................... 1 
A little difficulty...................................................... 2 
Moderate difficulty................................................. 3 
Extreme difficulty................................................... 4 
Stopped doing this because of your eyesight .... 5 
Stopped doing this for other reasons or not 
interested in doing this...................................... 6 
 
 
11. Because of your eyesight, how much difficulty do you have seeing 
how people react to things you say?  
(READ CATEGORIES AS NEEDED)  
(Circle One)  
No difficulty at all................................................... 1 A 
little 
difficulty...................................................... 
2 
Moderate 
difficulty................................................. 
3 
Extreme 
difficulty................................................... 
4 
Stopped doing this because of your eyesight .... 5 
Stopped doing this for other reasons or not 
interested in doing this ................................................ 6