Eli's Rehab Report

Published on Fri Jun 17, 2011 PDF

New third option could leave patients seeing clearly.

Stroke survivors may not have to accept partial or full neurological sight loss, if a new therapy works as its developers hope.

More than 20 percent of stroke patients suffer from visual field loss, but Vision Restoration Therapy (VRT) could be a successful option for recovering partial vision, says Boca Raton, Fla-based medical technology company NovaVision, who developed the therapy.

How it works: VRT is "a non-invasive approach to 'rewire' the visual nerves, aiming the healthy neurons to perform the function of those damaged or destroyed by a stroke -- resulting in a wider visual field," Bridges explains.

"While speech, physical and occupational therapies are the long-standing treatment regimens for stroke and brain trauma patients, vision rehabilitation has been an unmet need in the paradigm," he claims.

Opportunity: Don't assume your stroke patient's vision is gone forever. Consider offering some type of vision therapy just in case the option makes a difference. "Even a small gain in central vision has a large impact on the individual's quality of life," the company points out.