RESEARCHERS are developing a way to use video games to help children's eyesight, thanks to a £220,000 funding boost.

Glasgow Caledonian University (GCU) researchers are developing a technique to improve the eyesight of children with amblyopia - known as lazy eye.

Currently, the usual treatment involves making children wear a patch over the good eye, to encourage use of the lazy one.

But city scientists believe they can use video games to stimulate both eyes and improve vision.

Professor Anita Simmers, of the university's School of Health and Life Sciences, said: "My belief is that, while an eye patch works up to a point, there can be further improvements to vision in children of an older age - say six or seven - through greater motivation and engagement with a video task.

"Encouraging the use of both eyes in a treatment is a fundamentally different approach."

With funding of over £220,000 from the Chief Scientist Office (CSO), Professor Simmers is launching a trial, called Perceptual Learning in Enhanced Amblyopia Treatment.

The grant will enable the development of a custom-made video game, in collaboration with the University of California, Berkeley, which will use a split screen to encourage the use of both eyes.

Professor Simmers piloted this approach in a study with research funding from the Scottish Scientist Office and leading eye research charity Fight for Sight. Children wore gaming goggles to play a Tetris-style video game for an hour a day over a period of a week to ten days.

The pilot study established for the first time the opportunities of a perceptual learning approach in childhood lazy eye, with improvements in visual acuity and the establishment of 3D vision.

Participants to the new clinical trial will be recruited from the orthoptic clinic at Gartnaval General Hospital.

Professor Simmers is working with colleagues including Professor of Vision Science and Optometry Dennis Levi, from the University of California, Berkeley, and the Robertson Centre for Biostatistics at Glasgow University.

catriona.stewart@ eveningtimes.co.uk