About Eye-Tracking
We are proud to offer a more comprehensive vision exam using advanced, state-of-the-art eye-tracking technology. The RightEye system enables our doctors to pinpoint functional vision and brain health issues, identify the root cause of reading problems, and post-traumatic brain injury visual dysfunction. In just 5 minutes, this proven, patented technology measures visual skills in ways that a standard eye exam cannot — enabling us to diagnose and treat underlying vision issues that affect our patients’ quality of life, and provide objective baseline measurements to measure progression and improvement with vision therapy. RightEye evaluates the stability of visual fixation, saccades (fast eye-tracking movements) and smooth pursuits (slow eye-tracking) movements.
Revolutionary Eye-Tracking Technology
Your two eyes and brain must all work together to navigate the world. It’s this connection that makes up your dynamic vision. A standard eye exam, however, only checks your eyes’ physical health and ability to focus on stationary objects — it doesn’t measure critical dynamic vision skills such as eye movement and coordination and often can't identify eye movement disorders that are too subtle for a clinician to see.
Normal Circular Smooth Pursuits
Smooth pursuits are the ability for the eyes to slowly track an object with our eyes while it is moving
Impaired Circular Smooth Pursuits
When smooth pursuits are impaired, patients may have dizziness or nausea with visual motion or when tracking moving objects. They also may have trouble catching a ball. This example shows inaccurate, and unsteady smooth pursuits
Normal Horizontal Saccades
Saccades are the ability for the eyes to move quickly from one target to another. We use saccades for reading, visual search, and facial recognition.
Impaired Horizontal Saccades
When a person has inaccurate saccades, they may over or undershoot a target. This can cause someone to lose their place while reading. It can also trigger fatigue, dizziness, nausea, and headaches with visual tasks.
Normal Fixation Stability
Fixation is not a static state, but rather a dynamic neurologically controlled set of constant fixational eye movements. Fixation is imperative for good, stable, clear vision.
Abnormal Fixation Stability
When fixation is impaired, a patient may notice visual and cognitive fatigue, difficulty with reading or keeping place with spread sheets, pulsatile or moving vision, and sometimes dizziness
How RightEye Tracking at Virginia Neuro-Optometry is different than at other practices
While the RightEye technology itself is impressive in it's ability to document an individual's eye movements and abnormal vs normal, the technology itself is unable to differentiate between developmental vs trauma-induced causation, and can be contaminated by unintentional head movements which can occur in patients with neuro-development disorders, cervical instability/whiplash injury, and vestibular disorders. Additionally, as with any other technology, it can have difficulty with accuracy, reliability, and repeatability due to inherent nuances in using a dynamic structure like the pupil to track eye motion. Dr Theis is an international leader in eye tracking technology and its use in a clinical setting. At Virginia Neuro-Optometry, Dr Theis uses RightEye technology in addition to her extensive oculomotor exam to evaluate the underlying cause.