In recent years, virtual reality (VR) has emerged as a new safe and effective tool for neurorehabilitation of different childhood and adulthood conditions. VR-based therapies can induce cortical reorganization and promote the activation of different neuronal connections over a wide range of ages, leading to contrasted improvements in motor and functional skills. The use of VR for the visual rehabilitation in amblyopia has been investigated in the last years, with the potential of using serious games combining perceptual learning and dichoptic stimulation. This combination of technologies allows the clinician to measure, treat, and control changes in interocular suppression, which is one of the factors leading to cortical alterations in amblyopia. Several clinical researches on this issue have been conducted, showing the potential of promoting visual acuity, contrast sensitivity, and stereopsis improvement. Indeed, several systems have been evaluated for amblyopia treatment including the use of different commercially available types of head mounted displays (HMDs). These HMDs are mostly well tolerated by patients during short exposures and do not cause significant long-term side effects, although their use has been occasionally associated with some visual discomfort and other complications in certain types of subjects. More studies are needed to confirm these promising therapies in controlled randomized clinical trials, with special emphasis on the definition of the most adequate planning for obtaining an effective recovery of the visual and binocular function.

Microperimetry (MP) is a technology that allows the study of retinal sensitivity at different foveal and parafoveal areas as well as eye fixation. It is a technique of functional evaluation, providing a direct correlation between anatomical and functional outcomes. There are a great variety of studies which evaluate the repeatability or reliability of measurements obtained with this technology and also describe and explore different clinical applications. MP has been shown to be useful in the characterization of sensory and motor conditions, such as amblyopia or nystagmus. Concerning ocular pathology, several studies have confirmed the usefulness of MP for evaluating and analyzing different retinal pathological conditions, such as age-related macular degeneration or glaucoma, and for analyzing the effect of different medical or surgical treatments for these conditions. MP has also been shown to be useful for visual training or rehabilitation in some specific cases.

Purpose: To establish normative values of retinal sensitivity and parameters describing the fixation pattern using macular analyzer integrity assessment (MAIA) microperimetry (Centervue, Padova, Italy) in adults and children. Methods: A sample of 237 eyes of 237 healthy subjects aged between 10 and 70 years (mean age 30.63 ± 16.23 years) was evaluated using the MAIA microperimeter. The following parameters provided by the MAIA device were evaluated: average threshold (AT), macular integrity, fixation indexes (P1% and P2%), bivariate contour ellipse area (BCEA) for 95% and 63% of points, and horizontal (H) and vertical (V) axes of the ellipse of fixation. Differences between different age-related groups were evaluated. Correlation of microperimetric parameters with age was also assessed. Results: Median retinal sensitivity of the overall sample was 32.90 dB (interquartile range 1.80 dB). Median P1 and P2 values were 98.00% (6.00) and 100.00% (1.00), respectively. Median BCEA for 95% and 63% of points were 2.40°² (4.50) and 0.30°² (0.50), respectively. Median H and V were 0.90° (0.80) and 0.90° (0.70), respectively. Age was significantly correlated with the following parameters in subjects from 21 to 70 years of age (p<0.01): AT (rho -0.47), P1 (rho -0.37), BCEA95 (rho 0.43), BCEA63 (rho 0.42), H (rho 0.43), and V (rho 0.40). Conclusions: Retinal sensitivity in healthy eyes tends to decrease with age as well as the stability of the pattern of fixation. A normative database in terms of retinal sensitivity threshold and fixation performance can be established in this type of eyes.

To evaluate depth of field (DOF) provided by different presbyopia-correcting intraocular lens (IOL) designs, comparing the results obtained using different criteria for defining the defocus tolerance. A total of 150 eyes undergoing cataract surgery were enrolled and divided into 6 groups depending on the IOL implanted: AT.LISA Tri (Carl Zeiss Meditec), FineVision (PhysIOL), PanOptix (Alcon Laboratories), Tecnis Symfony (Johnson & Johnson Vision), Miniwell (SIFI MedTech) and Tecnis Synergy (Johnson & Johnson Vision). Subjective DOF was obtained from defocus curves with absolute and relative criteria of tolerance of 0.1 logMAR. Aberrometry was also measured and the visual strehl optical transference function (VSOTF) with percentage of degradation of 90%, 80% and 60% was used to quantify objectively the DOF. Tecnis Symfony, Tecnis Synergy and Panoptix IOL groups showed better subjective and objective DOF compared to the rest of IOL groups, being these differences statistically significant differences (p < 0.001). Comparison between subjective and objective DOF showed that subjective measures were higher for all IOLs, being also these differences statistically significant for all groups (p < 0.001). A moderate significant correlation was found between absolute subjective criteria and VSOTF60% (r = 0.73, p < 0.05). Objective and subjective measures of DOF are not comparable due to differences in methodologies and criterions to define the level of degradation tolerance. Nevertheless, both objective and subjective measures showed a trend to a greater DOF for Tecnis Symfony and Tecnis Synergy IOLs compared to most of trifocal diffractive designs, with the exception of PanOptix.

One of the main challenges in 3D integral imaging (InI) is to overcome the limited depth of field of displayed 3D images. Although this limitation can be due to many factors, the phenomenon that produces the strongest deterioration of out-of-focus images is the facet braiding. In fact, the facet braiding is an essential problem, since InI 3D monitors are not feasible if the braiding problem is not solved. In this paper, we propose a very simple method for overcoming the facet braiding effect which is a serious limitation for realization of 3D TV based on InI. Hybrid experiments are presented to verify the theoretical analysis.