NOTTINGHAM scientists have enlisted the help of entertainment giant Sony to develop 3D glasses to treat children suffering from Lazy Eye.
The glasses are being developed by the University of Nottingham and Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust.
They decided to approachSony Computer Entertainment Europe for help in the development process.
It is hoped it will help thousands of children across Europe who suffer from Lazy Eye.
The condition, also known as amblyopia, affects the vision of around three per cent of all children.
The traditional treatment for the condition involves covering the good eye for hundreds of hours.
The original idea for the new treatment was developed several years ago by Stephen Haworth, a consultant eye surgeon at Queen's Medical Centre. A team was formed, known as I-BiT.
Software engineers from Sony have agreed to provide customised games for the I-BiT system, based on popular titles for the PlayStation 3 console.
It sees children play the games wearing specialised 3D glasses. The technology presents the game background to the good eye and the active content to the bad eye, so both eyes are involved. However, the patient sees only the one, combined, image.
Alex Foss, consultant opthalmic surgeon at the QMC, said: "The current technique of patching up the good eye isn't very effective, and children also dislike it, which means they are reluctant to comply, further reducing the levels of success."
Simon Benson, senior development manager at Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, said: "Sony Computer Entertainment Europe is proud to be involved with helping to develop the I-BiT product with the University of Nottingham.
"The new PlayStation based solution will actually make it enjoyable for children to undergo treatment.."
A clinical trial programme, funded by the Wellcome Trust, has now started.
At the same time the group behind the study are looking at how the product could be developed commercially so it can be available through high street optical outlets, hospital eye clinics and in the longer term, possibly directly into the home.
