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  • blinq Vision Screener for Amblyopia and Strabismus

    By Lynda Seminara
    Selected by Richard K. Parrish II, MD
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    Journal Highlights

    American Journal of Ophthalmology, June 2023

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    The blinq (Rebion) scanner was designed for young children and uses retinal polarization scanning to detect amblyopia and strabismus. It has advantages over photo-screening tools that identify only amblyopia risk factors and have high false-positive rates. Whether blinq is as effective or practical as a full eye exam was the focus of work by Monahan et al. They compared blinq and clinical findings and found that blinq was highly sensi­tive for detecting both conditions.

    This clinical validity study involved 267 children (age range, 1-12 years; mean, 6.3 years) who visited the Storm Eye Institute for an ophthalmic exam between June and November of 2021. The patients received blinq screening first; they were asked to focus on a smiley face while a 2.5-second simulta­neous scan of both retinas detected the position of nerve fibers surrounding the fovea. Depending on the fixation results, blinq generated a “pass” (good binocular fixation) or “refer” result for complete scans or a “time-out” or “in­conclusive” result for scans that could not be completed. After blinq scanning, each child had a comprehensive eye exam by a pediatric ophthalmologist who was unaware of the blinq results.

    Altogether, blinq generated a pass for 106 (39.7%) of 267 children. Forty-four children (mean age, 3.21 years) whose test timed-out after multiple tries and eight others with inconclusive readings were subsequently consid­ered automatic referrals. The overall sensitivity and specificity of blinq for detecting amblyopia or any constant strabismus was 87.5% and 51.3%, respectively, with a disease prevalence rate of 30%. When children with intermittent strabismus and/or high refractive error were included as true positives, the sensitivity and specificity rose to 91.3% and 63.2%, respectively, with disease prevalence of 43.1%.

    Even though blinq readings were complete for many 1- and 2-year-olds in the study, the device is most suitable for children who are at least 3 years of age, said the researchers. They hope the findings will help care providers and communities design programs to fur­ther improve vision in young patients.

    The original article can be found here.