QuickSee handheld autorefractor shows strong agreement with subjective refraction measurements

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Oct. 9, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- PlenOptika, maker of the QuickSee handheld autorefractor, today announced the publication of research showing their device produces measurements in strong agreement with subjective refraction and traditional autorefraction technology.

The paper "Validation of an Affordable Handheld Wavefront Autorefractor", published in the journal Optometry and Vision Science, shows visual acuity improvement resulting from correction based on QuickSee measurements was the same as that achieved by subjective refraction in 87% of the eyes tested. This is comparable to results reported for clinically established benchtop systems and exceeds those of other handheld autorefractors.

The findings build on research, published in June in BMJ Open Ophthalmology, showing marginal difference in both prescription preference and resulting visual acuity between eyeglasses derived from subjective refraction versus QuickSee autorefraction. In that study, minimally trained technicians used QuickSee to measure over 700 patients in rural India.

QuickSee uses PlenOptika's proprietary Wavefront Refraction Engine, which analyzes dynamic wavefront aberrometry measurements. In just 10 seconds, QuickSee precisely measures patients' refractive error, the most common cause of vision impairment globally and often correctable with eyeglasses. Improved access to refractive error measurements, particularly in low-resource communities, can reduce the social and economic burden of poor vision.

"We are proud to show our new technology is as effective as techniques that take longer to perform, and that require costly, delicate, and heavy equipment," said Dr. Eduardo Lage, Ramon y Cajal Scientist at UAM engineering school and PlenOptika's Chief Technology Officer. "Agreement between the three refraction components (M, J₀, J₄₅) provided by QuickSee and subjective refraction is within 0.5 D in more than 85% of the cases."

The study was performed at UAM Medical School (Madrid, Spain) by personnel from Fundación Jiménez Díaz Hospital, and involved 54 adults. Refraction was first performed by the standard clinical procedure consisting of an objective measurement with a desktop autorefractor followed by subjective refraction, then with the handheld autorefractor for comparison.

The device, which is lightweight, battery-powered, and durable for mobile care and global health applications, can be used by nurses or technicians with an hour of training. Once trained, they can measure as many as 30 patients per hour indoors or outdoors and without electricity for up to six hours. Once measured, patients can be prescribed (and, thanks to many global health NGOs, provided) appropriate, affordable eyeglasses.

QuickSee is in clinical use in the United States, and has been deployed in global health missions in 15 countries in North America, Africa, and the Indian subcontinent.

"QuickSee has already measured more than two million eyes," said Dr. Shivang R. Dave, PlenOptika CEO. "But the World Health Organization estimates over a billion people suffer from poor vision due to uncorrected refractive error. Our design goal from the beginning was to lower the barriers to high quality vision care. Demonstrating QuickSee's ability to do this is a major milestone for us."

About PlenOptika

PlenOptika brings cutting-edge optical technology to eye care professionals and healthcare providers worldwide. Our flagship product, QuickSee™, is the world's most accurate handheld autorefractor. Combining an open and binocular view, wavefront aberrometry, and continuous measurements in a field-durable hand-held format, QuickSee enables clinically accurate autorefraction anywhere.

Contact
Shivang R Dave
CEO, PlenOptika
[email protected]

SOURCE PlenOptika