May 04, 2021 09:40 ET
Ocutrx Technologies, Inc. an augmented/extended reality and surgical device manufacturing company focused on transforming healthcare technology, announced today the issuance of its fifth patent by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office. The fifth patent covers a Macular Visual Field (MVF) test administered while the user is wearing the Oculenz™ AMD AR/XR headset. The patented technology is primarily associated with the at-home monitoring of individuals with Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD). This disease is the leading cause of visual impairment in over 10 million adults in the U.S. over the age of 60 and affects over 1.8 million Americans over the age of 40.
This new patent encompasses taking a visual field test while wearing Ocutrx’s low-vision AR headset, the Oculenz™ AMD. The MVF test provides the Oculenz AMD headset with information for pixel-shifting for vision correction providing AMD sufferers a better ability to read, recognize faces, and accomplish everyday tasks. Ocutrx’s initial clinical trials showed a mean improvement from vision worse than 20/200 up to 20/65. The clinical trial validated the visual field test process which permitted patients who had not been able to read prior to the trial to be able to read in just one session while wearing the Oculenz AMD headset.
The MVF test features both a static and dynamic test pattern shown to the user who identifies when he or she sees a series of lights appear on the lens of the headset. When a user does not see an indicator, the software logs the precise location of each, then forms a “map” of the area of the retina that can and cannot see. The MVF test enables the Oculenz software to identify the shape and size of an AMD patient’s scotoma (or blind spot). The visual field test is extremely user-friendly and takes approximately 5 minutes per eye. After the patient takes the visual field test, the Oculenz headset stores a mirror-image of the patient’s scotoma, called a “scotoma marker” so that the headset knows where to pixel-shift and buffer the image when the user is looking at the real-world which is re-projected onto the lens. Ocutrx’s buffering software moves images outside the area of a patient’s scotoma in real-time to next adjacent areas where the patient still has sight.
“This technology is revolutionary for the low-vision industry because it allows the patient to set the headset to a “Self-Diagnostic” mode which self-refines and adjusts the pixel manipulation to match any changes or advancing of their eye disease,” said Dr. Thomas Finley, Chairman of Ocutrx Technologies International Advisory Board, and Co-Founder and President of Tulsa Retina Consultants, the largest retina practice serving northeast Oklahoma.
The physician sets the parameters of the analytics per patient and the physician or staff can view the at-home eye test results and analytics almost instantly once completed by the low-vision patient. The physician’s office is sent a push notification if the tests show a significant change in size or shape of a scotoma (macular defect). This is critical, especially for Wet Macular Degeneration, because a new bleed is often not detected until too late, while instant notification provides the physician with treatment options which can often minimize the new damage.
“Oculenz will offer technology that is simply not available in any other low vision devices. Eye-tracking technology combined with “pixel manipulation” which enables “real-time” moving of video pixels and text outside of the blind spot will make it easier for a person with AMD to read print," said Marc Stenzel, Ocutrx’s Director of Low Vision Products. “This will make Oculenz more appealing and be useful to a broader cross section of AMD patients with moderate to severe vision loss and will increase demand for the product.”
Ocutrx Technologies plans to continue creating innovative and revolutionary medical technology that improves tele-health and in-home patient care capabilities. Ocutrx currently has 114 pending patents in multiple countries.
About Ocutrx
With corporate headquarters in Irvine, Calif., and an Innovation Center in Laguna Beach, Calif., research and development labs in Colorado Springs, CO and Tulsa, OK, and a new office in London, England, Ocutrx is a new breed of Augmented/Extended Reality manufacturing company focusing on the best-connected, lightest-weight, highest-resolution AR headset, housing the largest field-of-vision in the market. Ocutrx is creating impactful, revolutionary AR/XR headsets intended to improve quality of life for patients and improved surgery outcomes.