PV News - January 2011 - Use of the EUROFONT offers "European-wide" use of the ETDRS format

Happy New Year, friends. We're nearly a full month into 2011 and we at Precision Vision are excited at this new beginning. 2010 saw tremendous growth and opportunity to work with the eye care industry, and we're poised to do the same and even more in this coming year. This month, we bring you news regarding European-wide charts using the ETDRS format, as well as featured products and upcoming meetings. We hope to see many of you this year.

CONTENTS

• Use of the EUROFONT offers "European-wide" use of the ETDRS format
• Featured Products
• Upcoming Meetings
• Share Your Stories with Us

Use of the EUROFONT offers "European-wide" use of the ETDRS format

The visual acuity charts developed for the Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study (ETDRS) offered a rigorous chart design and test protocol, that has been widely adopted in basic and clinical vision research.  Today, the ETDRS format forms the gold standard for measuring visual acuity.

A limitation of the original ETDRS charts is that they do not allow for European-wide implementation, since they contain letters from the Latin (Roman) alphabet, which are not readable by all European citizens.

To facilitate reliable visual acuity screening for clinical trials and exchange of patient data between doctors, clinics and researchers throughout Europe and beyond, researchers at the University of Crete (Dr. Sotiris Plainis, Prof. Miltiadis Tsilimbaris and Prof. Ioannis Pallikaris), have developed modified ETDRS charts that contain only capital letters that are common to all three European alphabets (Latin, Greek, Cyrillic), and are thus recognizable for a much wider population as indicated in the map below.

The new charts have been validated against the original ETDRS charts in Greece, Bulgaria and Belgium.  They were found to produce comparable visual acuity scores with a test-retest repeatability of about 0.10 logMAR.

For the new charts, only the Sloan letters C, O and H were maintained; the letters C, D, N, R, S, V, and Z were replaced with E, P, X, B, T, M, and A.  All letters were constructed on Snellen’s 5x5 grid and are compatible with the specifications of the Sloan letters.

Charts for measuring both distance and near/intermediate visual acuity are available through Precision Vision.

© The modified ETDRS “European-wide” Charts represent intellectual property of the developers and the University of Crete.  All rights are reserved.

Extended Geographical area in which the Modified ETDRS charts may be used

Featured Products

The modified ETDRS "European-wide" Charts

These charts which are modified for all three Eurpoean alphabets remain faithful to the ETDRS format thus ensuring adherence to the gold standards of visual acuity measurement. The new charts have been validated against the original ETDRS charts and were found to produce comparable visual acuity scores with a test-retest repeatability of about 0.10 logMAR.

Learn more about the The modified ETDRS "European-Wide" Charts

• ETDRS "European-Wide" Chart 1 (3 meter/ 10 ft)
  
• ETDRS "European-Wide" Chart 2 (3 meter/ 10 ft)
  
• ETDRS "European-Wide" Chart 3 (3 meter/ 10 ft)
• ETDRS "European-Wide" Chart 1 (4 meter/ 13 ft)
  
• ETDRS "European-Wide" Chart 2 (4 meter/ 13 ft)
  
• ETDRS "European-Wide" Chart 3 (4 meter/ 13 ft)

Mixed Contrast "European-Wide" Near Vision Card

These charts are for measuring near (33cm) and Intermediate (66cm) visual acuity. Mixed contrast with high contrast on one side and the other side contains 20% Weber / 10% Michelson contrast levels.

Attached cord assures accurate testing distances.  Chart measures 7" x 9". The modified charts for "European-wide use" facilitate patient data exchange between doctors and clinics, securing validity of visual acuity screening among all EU population.

Learn more about the Near Vision modified ETDRS "European-Wide" Cards

• Near Vision modified ETDRS "European-Wide" Card 2831
  
• Near Vision modified ETDRS "European-Wide" Card 2841

Upcoming Meetings

Visit Precision Vision will be at the following meetings.

Share Your Stories With Us!

Precision Vision® wants to hear your stories. Tell us how you are impacting the industry. Do you have an interesting story to share about a Precision Vision® product? Contact us and we may use it in a future newsletter.

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