Use of Eye Exercises to Improve Vision

Novel Way to Strengthen Eye Muscle and Enhance Peripheral Vision

Children in the United States watch an average of twenty-eight hours of television and play around thirteen hours of video games per week. The objective of this experiment was to see if a specific eye exercises could strengthen the eye muscles and improve the peripheral vision range of children and adults.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Eye Strain
• Intervention / Treatment: Procedure: Exercise; Device: Circular light motion; Device: Diagonal light motion; Device: Peripheral light motion

Detailed Description

Children in the United States watch an average of twenty-eight hours of television and play around thirteen hours of video games per week. When their eyes are focused, people tend to blink their eyes less, exacerbating the problem of eye fatigue or stress. The objective of this study is to see if a novel exercise technique can increase eye muscle strength and widen peripheral vision. Experiments were conducted by asking the test subjects to follow, with their eyes, a set of blinking LED lights on 3 vision exercise devices. These LED lights were laid in circular or diagonal configurations, and programmed using a microcontroller to blink or 'move' in certain directions and at certain speeds. An endurance score, measured as total time that the test subject completed while following the blinking LED lights before his/her eyes became tired, was recorded. Nineteen test subjects aged 12-81 were asked to exercise their eyes four times over 2 weeks using the devices for as long as they could until they experienced mild eye fatigue. Endurance scores, peripheral vision, and peripheral reading ranges were assessed before and after the training sessions.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 19
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • California
    • Fremont, California, United States, 94539
      • Hopkins Junior High School

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 12 years and older (Child, Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Able to read English

Exclusion Criteria:

• Cannot be colorblind

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Supportive Care
• Allocation: Non-Randomized
• Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Adults; The arm consisted of adult participants who underwent: Circular Light Motion exercises: 4 times over 2 weeks Diagonal Light Motion exercises: 4 times over 2 weeks Peripheral Light Motion exercises: 4 times over 2 weeks	Procedure: Exercise; Device: Circular light motion; Exercise with circular light motion; Device: Diagonal light motion; Exercise with diagonal light motion; Device: Peripheral light motion; Exercise with peripheral light motion
Experimental: Children; The arm consisted of child participants who underwent: Circular Light Motion exercises: 4 times over 2 weeks Diagonal Light Motion exercises: 4 times over 2 weeks	Procedure: Exercise; Device: Circular light motion; Exercise with circular light motion; Device: Diagonal light motion; Exercise with diagonal light motion

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Eye Muscle Endurance	The time spent exercising prior to eye strain	2 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Peripheral Vision	The lateral degrees at which the test subject could see a blank card	2 weeks
Peripheral Reading Range	The lateral degrees at which the test subject could read the letters on a card	2 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of California, Davis

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start: February 1, 2012
• Primary Completion (Actual): April 1, 2012
• Study Completion (Actual): April 1, 2012

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: February 13, 2017
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: February 14, 2017
• First Posted (Actual): February 15, 2017

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): October 6, 2017
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: October 4, 2017
• Last Verified: October 1, 2017

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Eye Diseases; Asthenopia
• Other Study ID Numbers: ACSEF2012JB

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No