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Master of Science in Biomedical EngineeringBIBEBUVADisplay of a portable visual aid – New approachBiomedical Engineering / Thesis advisor: Prof. Dr. Jörn JustizExpert: Prof. Dr. Volker M. KochProject partner: Reber Informatik + Engineering GmbH, MünsingenThree out of ten individuals older than 75 years are affected by an eye disease, called the age-related maculardegeneration (AMD), which causes irreversible damage to the retina. AMD is marked by the degenerationof photoreceptors in the macular region of the retina (center of the visual field) leading to opacities,distortions, scotomas and may even finally result in blindness. Since the disease is currently untreatable,research is conducted towards a visual aid within the scope of the VoiSee ® project. This electronic visualaid will considerably disburden the everyday life of AMD patients.BackgroundThe sense of sight affects a largeportion of our extrasensory perception.Various diseases of theretina and the nerve fibers, thatsignificantly impair the sense ofsight such as age-related maculardegeneration (AMD), are currentlynot treatable. In these cases, onecan attempt to compensate thevisual impairment by technicalmeans (e.g. by visual aids). Thegoal of magnifying visual aids is tocompensate the vision loss by anappropriate enlargement to reenablereading of texts.Within the scope of the VoiSee ®project, research is conducted towardsa novel, portable visual aid,which will considerably disburdenthe everyday life of AMD affectedindividuals by means of a largefield of view to restore their abilityto perform general tasks more independentlyas well as to readsmaller writings outside theirhomes (as for example productinscriptions in supermarkets ordeparture boards in railway stations).In addition to the large fieldof view, a comfortable viewingmust be achieved, while the dimensionsof the device ought toremain acceptable. Both properties(optical and ergonomic) representan important presuppositionfor the acceptance of the futureVoiSee ® vision aid, which thus distinguishesitself from already existingyet much more restricted portablevisual aids.Project scopeDuring the present thesis a newapproach for the display of a portableVoiSee ® visual aid had beenreviewed with regard to feasibilityand was thereupon implemented.During a subsequent patientstudy, the newly developed displaywas compared to two alreadyexisting optical VoiSee ® displays,which had also been optimizedduring this thesis. For the evaluationof the study, optical, ergonomicand economic criteria wereconsidered for selecting the optimaldisplay type.ResultsThe newly developed display increasesthe maximum visual anglefrom 48.9° to 68° compared to theprevious display types. Moreover,the new optics substantially improvesthe viewing comfort.The statistical significance of thebenefits of the newly developeddisplay was shown by a systematicstudy. 22 of 25 questionedAMD affected individuals preferredthe newly developed display whichwas also the only one of the presenteddisplay types judged to beacceptable in everyday life.Additionally, essential knowledgefor further development of theVoiSee ® vision aid could be gainedduring the study.Aymeric Niederhauseraymeric.ni@gmail.comDiscussionThe best possible display technology(display-hardware with appropriateoptics) could be selected bystudy results. The chosen displaytype will be implemented into thefirst complete VoiSee ® prototypein a future project. Therefore, a bigleap could be taken towards anoptimal portable electronic visionaid.The newly developed displayti.bfh.ch47