Macular Degeneration and the iPad

Consumer electronics are making inroads into eyecare! Patients with Macular Degeneration (AMD) now have the option of using electronic devices like the iPad from Apple to assist them in using the vision that they still have, and also to help monitor the progress of their disease.

Traditionally individuals with vision loss have had to use specialty visual aids in order to improve their vision. Magnifiers and CCTV's have been a godsend for folks who have trouble reading because of AMD. Many of these devices are difficult to use or very expensive. About 3 years ago the doctors at Skyvision Centers in Westlake, just outside of Cleveland, started to experiment with electronic reading devices like the Kindle, the Sony Reader, the Nook, and then the iPad. All four have the ability to magnify reading material, and nowadays you have access to not only books but also magazines and newspapers on all of them.

The iPad 2 from Apple is now equipped with a camera. Programs called "apps" are coming out which should allow you to scan a written page or picture and then magnify it automatically on the iPad screen. In upcoming posts we will do reviews of these apps as well as offer some tips on their use.

The SightBook app is a tool that allows patients to evaluate their vision at home and share that information with their eye doctor. A series of up close vision tests is taken by a patient using an iPad connected to the internet. Any changes will then be sent to the eye doctor. This is a free app available through the iTunes store. We'll check it out and report back soon!

Visual Impairment and Reading

We take care of may people who have various degrees of visual impairment. The most common of these is Age-Related Macular Degeneration, or AMD. People with AMD typically have more difficulty with their distance vision than they do up close, but as it gets worse it can start to affect their ability to read. In the earlier stages of AMD the best visual aid for reading is a very good reading light! We still like Halogen lamps because they have a very bright, flat white light. Some of the newer LED lights are also very good (we do NOT like any of the mini-fluorescent bulbs for reading at all).

The introduction of all of the electronic readers has been simply marvelous for all kinds of visually-related reading problems. You no longer have to seek out large print versions of books, magazines, or newspapers. Now you just increase the size of the print on your Kindle, Nook, Sony Reader, or iPad. Most of the e-Readers still require a good light source. If you are using a Kindle or Sony Reader, for example, you should still try to find a nice Halogen lamp to use when you are reading.

There is now some very good research that shows that an e-Reader that is BACKLIT allows people who have a visual impairment like AMD to read faster and more accurately. The Apple iPad is the best known. and probably most versatile of the backlit readers. We have had great feedback from those patients who have taken our advice and tried the iPad. Over the next several months the SkyVision staff will be test-driving the iPad apps that are designed to help folks with AMD read better.