The Enfant Pediatric VEP Vision Testing System, developed by medical instrumentation company Diopsys Inc. in Pine Brook, N.J., provides early detection of vision problems in some 300 pediatric offices nationwide with a primary presence within 25 miles of New York City, including several in Fairfield County.
Company president Joe Fontanetta said that 400,000 children have been tested to date utilizing the technology.
“You can have 20-20 vision and still have amblyopia or lazy eye,” said Fontanetta. “It”™s not a problem with the lens, but with the function of the eye. Most tests only measure structure.”
Fontanetta said one patient had clinically perfect vision, yet was developing a cancerous tumor beyond the eye.
“Most of the time, parents are totally unaware of this technology until we present it to them at the child”™s checkup,” said Kelly Rooney, a pediatrician at The Pediatric Center in Stamford. “It allows us to pick up on prevalent eye problems and to test children at a much younger age.”
Rooney said the objectivity of the system heightens accuracy and said the Enfant system can be used to screen infants as young as six months.
The test is noninvasive and requires no response from the patient. Brainwaves are measured through visual stimuli while children view graphics accompanied by music.
“We can barely get 3 year olds to stand up straight to read the charts and even some 6 year olds are cheating,” Rooney said of traditional vision testing methods. “Technology doesn”™t allow that to happen and picks up inequality in vision that may indicate the eye hasn”™t received proper stimulus.”Â
Fontanetta said by measuring brainwaves, root causes of lazy eye or potential blindness may be evaluated and treated much earlier on.
“The technology we”™re using is called visually evoked response and has been around since the 1970s or 1980s and was only used in major medical centers,” Fontanetta said. “We were able to take the science and streamline it enough through computer technology to make it a commercially viable product.”
The list price of the machine is $33,850, Fontanetta said.
Rooney said reimbursement from insurance providers varies, but most are covering procedure costs.
As the number of pediatric providers utilizing the system grows, Fontanetta said Diopsys seeks to broaden its market base.
“We”™re doing research now for physicians groups to validate the effectiveness of testing adult eye diseases that can lead to blindness, glaucoma and macular degeneration,” Fontanetta said. “What we”™re looking to do now is to expand its use into the adult market as a very early way to detect eye diseases.”
Diopsys is now in the process of expanding its sales force and within five years, projects the pediatric vision testing system will be in 2,000 offices nationwide.
