Binocularly Balanced Viewing Study

NCT ID: NCT03754153

Last Updated: 2021-12-23

Study Results

Results pending

The study team has not published outcome measurements, participant flow, or safety data for this trial yet. Check back later for updates.

Basic Information

Get a concise snapshot of the trial, including recruitment status, study phase, enrollment targets, and key timeline milestones.

Recruitment Status

COMPLETED

Clinical Phase

NA

Total Enrollment

32 participants

Study Classification

INTERVENTIONAL

Study Start Date

2019-10-28

Study Completion Date

2021-12-01

Brief Summary

Review the sponsor-provided synopsis that highlights what the study is about and why it is being conducted.

Amblyopia is treated by glasses and patches or blurring eyedrops to the good eye. This works in about 70% of children, but parents and children strongly dislike these treatments which may carry on for years and involve frequent clinic visits. In this pilot trial, 66 children will receive, at random, either a Nintendo 3DSXL console with movies, or standard patching/blurring eye-drop treatment. The Investigators will monitor adverse events (double vision), change in the balance between the two eyes and in visual acuity over 16 weeks.

Detailed Description

Dive into the extended narrative that explains the scientific background, objectives, and procedures in greater depth.

"Lazy eye" (amblyopia) is the commonest sight problem in children, affecting about one in 30 children. It is caused by a difference in spectacle prescription between the eyes and/or a squint (eye misalignment), with the brain ignoring one eye. Amblyopia is treated by glasses and patches or blurring eyedrops to the good eye. This works in about 70% of children, but parents and children strongly dislike these treatments which may carry on for years and involve frequent clinic visits.

The Investigators have developed an exciting new treatment: children watch customized movies for an hour a day on a hand-held 3D computer-game console. The Investigators blur the picture that the good eye sees to match it with what the weaker eye sees. They have tested this approach on 22 children, with an average improvement in vision by three lines on the test chart over 8 - 24 weeks, which may be faster than with standard treatment. Parents and children the Investigators have spoken with like both the idea of research in this area and the engaging nature of this device. The Investigators now need to assess how the new treatment compares with standard treatment, but first need to ensure that the new treatment is safe and that families will use it.

In this pilot trial, 66 children will receive, at random, either a Nintendo 3DSXL console with movies, or standard patching/blurring eye-drop treatment. The Investigators will monitor adverse events (double vision), change in the balance between the two eyes and in visual acuity over 16 weeks. Parents and children have helped develop this pilot - this involvement will be continued throughout the study. At study completion, children and parents will be involved in deciding how best to communicate the findings on hospital websites, in newsletters, at conferences and in medical journals.

Conditions

See the medical conditions and disease areas that this research is targeting or investigating.

Amblyopia

Study Design

Understand how the trial is structured, including allocation methods, masking strategies, primary purpose, and other design elements.

Allocation Method

RANDOMIZED

Intervention Model

PARALLEL

Two-group parallel randomized controlled trial
Primary Study Purpose

TREATMENT

Blinding Strategy

SINGLE

Outcome Assessors
At each site, a masked orthoptist will carry out the study assessments.

Study Groups

Review each arm or cohort in the study, along with the interventions and objectives associated with them.

Balanced Binocular Viewing (BBV)

The experimental intervention will be BBV treatment, i.e. viewing movies for one hour or 2x30min/day on a Nintendo 3DSXL console. With this technology, the Investigators will show blurred images to the better-seeing eye and normal images to the amblyopic eye, encouraging the use of the amblyopic eye and improving acuity.

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

Balanced Binocular Viewing (BBV)

Intervention Type DEVICE

The dose of BBV therapy will be one hour a day or 2x30 min/day (depending on child's attention span and/or need to implement the treatment around the family daily routine).

Standard Therapy - Occlusion (patching) or blurring (atropine)

The control intervention will be either atropine eyedrops twice a week or daily occlusion (patching) therapy of the better-seeing eye (which are the current standards). As per clinical standard, parents will be offered the choice of occlusion or eyedrop treatment.

Group Type ACTIVE_COMPARATOR

Standard Therapy - Occlusion (patching) or blurring (atropine)

Intervention Type OTHER

The prescribed dose of occlusion treatment / patching (parental choice) will depend on the severity of amblyopia, as by current clinical practice based on PEDIG studies

Interventions

Learn about the drugs, procedures, or behavioral strategies being tested and how they are applied within this trial.

Balanced Binocular Viewing (BBV)

The dose of BBV therapy will be one hour a day or 2x30 min/day (depending on child's attention span and/or need to implement the treatment around the family daily routine).

Intervention Type DEVICE

Standard Therapy - Occlusion (patching) or blurring (atropine)

The prescribed dose of occlusion treatment / patching (parental choice) will depend on the severity of amblyopia, as by current clinical practice based on PEDIG studies

Intervention Type OTHER

Eligibility Criteria

Check the participation requirements, including inclusion and exclusion rules, age limits, and whether healthy volunteers are accepted.

Inclusion Criteria

* Age between 3.0 and less than 8.0 years
* unilateral anisometropic, strabismic or combined mechanism amblyopia
* best-corrected crowded logMAR visual acuity (BCVA) in the amblyopic eye worse than 0.2logMar
* best corrected visual acuity in the better seeing eye 0.2 or better
* difference in best corrected visual acuity between the two eyes of 0.2 logMAR or more
* adapted to spectacles with no improvement in acuity in affected eye for two consecutive visits
* no previous treatment for amblyopia other than glasses

Exclusion Criteria

* ocular cause for reduced visual acuity
* inability to co-operate with assessment tests
* other developmental disorders or learning or neurological disability that would impact on adherence to treatment
* photopic epilepsy
* myopia with spherical equivalent of greater than -6.00DS
* previous intraocular surgery
* inability to perform a crowded letter logMAR visual acuity test using a clinical trials standard testing method (ATS-HOTV protocol), either by naming or by matching letters
Minimum Eligible Age

3 Years

Maximum Eligible Age

8 Years

Eligible Sex

ALL

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Sponsors

Meet the organizations funding or collaborating on the study and learn about their roles.

Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

OTHER

Sponsor Role lead

Responsible Party

Identify the individual or organization who holds primary responsibility for the study information submitted to regulators.

Responsibility Role SPONSOR

Principal Investigators

Learn about the lead researchers overseeing the trial and their institutional affiliations.

Annegret Dahlmann-Noor

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

Locations

Explore where the study is taking place and check the recruitment status at each participating site.

Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

London, , United Kingdom

Site Status

Countries

Review the countries where the study has at least one active or historical site.

United Kingdom

References

Explore related publications, articles, or registry entries linked to this study.

Dahlmann-Noor AH, Greenwood JA, Skilton A, Baker D, Abbas M, Clay E, Khandelwal P, Dunham D, Ludden S, Davis A, Dehbi HM, Dakin SC. Feasibility of a new 'balanced binocular viewing' treatment for unilateral amblyopia in children aged 3-8 years (BALANCE): results of a phase 2a randomised controlled feasibility trial. BMJ Open. 2024 Jul 30;14(7):e082472. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2023-082472.

Reference Type DERIVED
PMID: 39079927 (View on PubMed)

Dahlmann-Noor AH, Greenwood JA, Skilton A, Baker D, Ludden S, Davis A, Dehbi HM, Dakin SC. Phase 2a randomised controlled feasibility trial of a new 'balanced binocular viewing' treatment for unilateral amblyopia in children age 3-8 years: trial protocol. BMJ Open. 2022 May 24;12(5):e051423. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2021-051423.

Reference Type DERIVED
PMID: 35613759 (View on PubMed)

Other Identifiers

Review additional registry numbers or institutional identifiers associated with this trial.

DALA1031

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id