The Eyes Have It

In a statewide test of more than 170,000 Alabama elementary school students in Kindergarten through second grade, more than 10 per cent were found to have eye diseases or defects requiring medical attention. The difficulties ranged from simple nearsightedness and far sightedness to much more serious diseases which required immediate treatment if the children’s vision was to be saved. The tests were conducted under license by the Birmingham, Ala.-based Vision Research Corporation. Funding for the testing was provided by the state of Alabama ($600,000), the Russell Corporation ($100,000) and the Alabama Power Company ($100,000).

The $800,000 cost works out to approximately $4.70 per child -- a bargain compared to the cost of caring for a blind or visually impaired individual.

The results of the 1994-95 school year Alabama testing have impressed the education commissioners in 24 other states which are now following Alabama’s example and scheduling testing of their schoolchildren.

The technology, developed by the late John Richardson, formerly the biomedical applications manager for the Technology Transfer Office at the Marshall Center, and Joseph H. Kerr, an engineer in the Space Systems Chief Engineer’s Office at the space center, involves simply photographing the children’s eyes and analyzing the patterns of light reflected from them. Anyone who has taken photographs with a flash attachment on the camera is familiar with a phenomenon known as “red eye.” This occurs when the back of the eye of the subject being photographed reflects light back into the camera. This phenomenon also can be seen at night when an automobile’s headlights illuminate an animal in or alongside the road. The eyes seem to glow in the dark, reflecting the light from the headlight.

The inventors of the process discovered that different eye abnormalities and diseases cause the eyes to reflect light in different, distinct ways. Each abnormality has a reflection “signature,” thus permitting immediate diagnosis of a problem.

In announcing the state’s decision to conduct the tests, the Alabama state school superintendent directed that all 795 public elementary schools participate in the program. Since the procedure is painless and only requires a few seconds of the student’s time, this is one test, from the children’s point of view, that none minded taking.

Since vision abnormalities can affect a child’s performance and self-esteem in school, educators hope students whose eye defects are detected and corrected as a result of the test will earn better grades, improve their comprehension of subject material, and enjoy a better quality of life -- both while in school and after graduation.