When Elsa Sheerer, OD, FAAO, of Acuity NYC in New York, New York, can improve a patient’s quality of life, that is a huge win for herself and her practice. Adding RevitalVision training software, she says, has allowed her to do that. 

“A lot of times what motivates us as doctors is making patients more visually comfortable and confident—whether that be driving a car, depth perception, reading, etc. If we can do anything to enhance those things for our patients then we have improved their quality of life. I think RevitalVision is a very important tool in the toolbox for us.”

RevitalVision is an FDA-cleared perceptual learning software program that has been clinically validated to improve vision in several eye diseases and vision conditions—such as adult amblyopia (lazy eye), keratoconus, presbyopia, low myopia, low vision, post-cataract surgery, and post-LASIK surgery—through patient-specific visual stimulation that harnesses the brain's capacity to process vision. Patients can do the training at home, and the number of sessions varies depending on the specific program.

Like Dr. Sheerer, Jordan Dau, OD, of Dau Family Eye Care, a multi-location practice in Florida, and Neil Margolis, OD, FOVDR, FAAO, of Visual Symptoms Treatment Center in Arlington Heights, Illinois, agree that RevitalVision offers patient and practice value.

Patient Value

Dr. Sheerer says the biggest benefit for patients is that RevitalVision uses the natural neuroplasticity of the visual system in order to regain visual acuity, contrast sensitivity, and stereoacuity. Using it primarily for amblyopia, she recalls 2 patients who felt like their vision for driving improved.

“One patient had longstanding amblyopia in 1 eye, and then he experienced pathology in his better-seeing eye. To be eligible for a driver's license again, he was looking for treatment options. We were able to achieve that for him, and he was elated because he got his freedom back. In the second case of a young patient with severe amblyopia, while his vision didn't necessarily improve that much, his stereo improved quite a bit, and he felt like he was more visually aware on that side of his visual field, and as a result, more confident behind the wheel.” 

Dr. Dau has also seen positive results with his amblyopia patients. “In patients who have had a lazy eye since day 1, they've never been able to see out of that eye because of developmental problems. Even if we gave them glasses, normally they would still be stuck at 20/40, 20/100. With RevitalVision, we can tell the program this person has a lazy eye, that we need to fix that kind of blurriness.”

In addition, Dr. Dau says he had many post-cataract surgery patients who didn't feel comfortable driving before the surgery or after. “But going through the training, they can now drive at night and it just adds another dimension to their lifestyle that they had lost.”

Dr. Margolis has also seen the benefits in his patients with mild amblyopia. “Because it's mild, it's harder to create stimuli that specifically stimulate the part of the visual pathway required to see smaller visual stimuli. It is that ability to see the smaller visual detail or letters that can be the difference between passing the drivers test or not. I found Revital Vision to be most effective for this purpose.” 

Practice Value

According to Dr. Sheerer, one practice benefit of RevitalVision is that it doesn't go through insurance, and it is a cash-pay therapy. “Some doctors may also pair it with in-office vision therapy. For example, if there's a waiting list for their in-office therapy, they can start with RevitalVision, get a jumpstart, and then transition into in-office therapy. I think from that standpoint, it really gives doctors control.”

For Dr. Dau, he can now take care of patients that he couldn't before. “We now have a solution that doesn't require glasses, a prescription, surgery, or medication. I can help patients that I did not have the ability to help just a few months ago. This opens up a whole new window of opportunity.”

In addition, Dr. Dau says the process is simple. “We prescribe it to a patient, and enroll them into the program. We also have a doctor's portal that we can manage everything in and track a patient’s progress. The program reminds patients if they haven't taken a session in a while, provides them with updates, and also reminds them to see us when it gets to a certain point to check their progress.”

Dr. Margolis says he provides a dual program for amblyopia patients—in office vision therapy for binocular fusion and RevitalVision for amblyopia home therapy which he has found to be more effective. “This reflects my practice’s ability to work with patients to try to reach the goals that they are coming to us to get help with.” OM