NEW "GLASSES" BENEFIT RESEARCH

Image of a person wearing the Mobile Eye device, which are a pair of glasses with a camera above the eye, and clear angled lens with reflective coating placed over the right eye. Image care of the Mobile Eye Website.

New research methods at the Western Blind Rehabilitation Center using special glasses called The Mobile Eye™ will improve visual function, not only in injured combat troops, but also in Veterans with age-related eye disease or vision loss associated with strokes and other causes of vision loss following brain injury. Additionally, the knowledge gained should readily transfer to the benefit of both Veterans and civilians with age-related vision loss or vision loss due to stroke, falls, motor vehicle accidents, and other events causing brain injury and vision loss.

The Mobile Eye™ (Applied Sciences Laboratories, Bedford, MA) tracks and records the person’s eye movement and superimposes it on a videotaped view of the environment recording both for review and analysis. This al­lows researchers and clinicians to “see what the person is looking at” and to do sophisticated analysis about the amount of time any object was fixated on, directions of scan, and to identify how the individual manages areas of field loss.

Understanding how well the individual manages their areas of vision loss is critical to understanding how they inter­act with the world around them. This is important because it leads to a better understanding of the person’s visual functioning and the effectiveness of rehabilitation. It should also lead to more effective rehabilitation therapies.

For the Full Article Please CLICK HERE and Scroll to Page 18

To be directed to the Mobile Eye Website CLICK HERE

For a link to a video demonstrating the Mobile Eye CLICK HERE

WBRC ROCK CLIMBING

Photo provided by Recreation Therapy of two WBRC students approaching the top of a rock climbing wall with a rock climbing instructor nearby

How far would you be willing to push yourself to succeed? How far would go to see if you still had it in you? Well, for a group of veterans at the Western Blind Rehab Center, they were willing to do whatever it took to get to the top of the mountain, literally. A small group of veterans joined Recreation Therapy for a trip to an indoor rock climbing facility in Santa Clara. Some guys hadn’t climbed a wall since basic training 30-40 years ago, and others had recently given up on the idea being able to climb again as a hobby. Of the 8 veterans that attended, more than half were between 60 and 70 years old. The most amazing part was that every single veteran made it to the top of the wall, at least once! For some the bragging rights were enough, for others the knowledge that they could still climb brought back the fiery drive of, “What else can I still do?”. So I ask you…..how far would you go?

Nicole Marquez RTC, CTRS
Recreation Therapy Assistant
Western Blind Rehab Center

WBRC RESEARCHER HONORED WITH AWARD

Director Lisa Freeman and Drs. Cockerham and Goodrich,

middle, right, and far right,

receive the Olin Teague Award from

VA Chief of Staff John Gingrich, far left,

and Olin Teague's daugther Mrs. Jill Cochran

at the Cannon House Office Building, Washington, D.C.

WASHINGTON – Two researchers for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) in Palo Alto, Calif., were recognized with the Olin Teague Award for their research in vision issues that led to improved eye and vision injury examination techniques for Veterans.
"VA has identified these techniques as 'best practices' and now requires eye exams for all patients with traumatic brain injury at VA poly trauma centers," said VA Chief of Staff John Gingrich at the awards ceremony on Capitol Hill.
Gingrich presented Dr. Gregory Goodrich, research psychologist, and Dr. Glenn Cockerham, chief of ophthalmology, with the 2009 Olin Teague Award, a national award that recognizes contributions in an area critical to the rehabilitation and improvement in the quality of life of war-injured Veterans.

Click HERE for a link to the VA PRESS RELEASE