Glaucoma Could Be Diagnosed By Watching TV

I would go out on a limb here and mention that many of us would have grown up having watched more TV than recommended, much to the chagrin of or parents. Well, it would not be uncommon to hear that watching too much TV is good for your eyes, but it seems as though the table has turned now, as British researchers have discovered that they could actually diagnose glaucoma. Glaucoma has been said to be the leading cause of blindness, and the scientists who hail from City University London and funded by the charity Fight for Sight, managed to recruit 32 elderly people who have healthy vision and 44 patients who happen to have a glaucoma diagnosis.

This was followed by the participants watching a trio of TV and film clips, all the while having a tracking device to record their eye movements. Taking all of the recorded data into consideration, it was subsequently transformed into maps that depict the directions in which the participants were looking at, and the team that comprises of Professor David Crabb, Dr Nicholas Smith, Dr Haogang Zhu and colleagues managed to figure out who had glaucoma.

Pretty neat observation, yes? I do wonder whether the same technique can be applied while one is playing video games.

Edwin Kee
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Tags: Science, TV