IPS Amblyopia Treatment, phase 3: RCT of a computer program for treating amblyopia

Jewls Matthews

Conventional IPS treatment involves tracing on perspex slides placed over a red flashing background of various shapes and patterns, designed to stimulate different types of receptive fields in the visual system. The weekly treatment of 30 minute sessions during which the better eye is patched, takes place in the practice. This treatment is very tedious for the patient and a new computerised version has been developed which could be used at home. This study will evaluate a new computerised version of the IPS treatment.

It has been claimed that IPS is effective because (a) it forces the person to use their amblyopic eye whilst carrying out detailed visual tasks, (b) the flashing stimulus promotes foveal fixation, and (c) the red background promotes foveal fixation. Although an earlier phase of this study shows the treatment to be effective, it is unclear whether (b) and (c) are important in the treatment. It is possible that there is nothing special about IPS and the only way in which the treatment is helpful is through having the patient carry out a detailed visual task with the amblyopic eye. The aim of this research is to compare the full computerised IPS treatment (with a red flashing stimulus) with a control IPS treatment that lacks a red and flashing stimulus.