Who ever thought getting your vision checked could be fun? We’ve written about in-home vision testing in the past with apps from EyeQue, Easee, and others. Those apps represent notable advances in remote patient vision testing, especially in light of COVID-19 travel and personal contact limitations. People with chronic eye diseases associated with aging such as age-related macular degeneration (AMD) require regular testing to monitor the status and progression of the diseases. Older people are an especially high-risk group during the current pandemic, heightening the concern about contact-free medical care even with conditions such as AMD that benefit from regular vision testing.
Paris-based Tilak Healthcare has a unique approach to at-home vision telemonitoring apps. Tilak is a videogame studio that creates mobile medical games specifically like for patients with chronic diseases. Tilak’s OdySight is an iOS- and Android-compatible smartphone app. Physicians prescribe OdySight for patients with chronic macular diseases such as AMD and Diabetic Retinopathy (DR).
OdySight presents the player with a series of deconstructed puzzles to rebuild. Tilak designed the puzzles to be fun and engaging to increase patient compliance with home testing frequency. The puzzles measure overall visual acuity plus integrated Amsler grid tests that check the patient’s central visual field vision. Players can earn virtual trophies when they complete puzzle-building tasks. Clinical personnel can access a secure cloud-based dashboard that monitors the patient’s visual test results.
Tilak and Novartis Pharma AG recently announced an agreement to promote OdySight internationally. Physicians who prescribe OdySight for patients with eye diseases can keep track of patient status and disease progression between consultations, which can potentially decrease the required frequency of trips to the doctor’s office.
