Tests sound feedback to help steady the eyes in people with retinal disease
Tests a sound-based device guiding eye fixation in adults with retinal disease or vision loss.
Plain-language title generated from the registry record
Registry title: Real-time Acoustic Biofeedback for Enhancing Fixation Stability: A Proof-of-concept Study to Improve Ophthalmic Imaging Diagnostic Quality
Key facts
- Where
- Göttingen, GermanySee the site
Where in Germany
- EKFZ Else Kroener Fresenius Center for Optogenetic Therapies, University Medical Center GoettingenGöttingen, GermanyNo longer taking part
Questions to ask the study team
- How often do I need to come in, and for how long each time?
- Are travel costs paid?
- Can I keep my own doctor?
- What happens if I want to stop?
Trial details
- Who runs it
- University Medical Center Goettingen
- Trial code
- NCT07529041
- Record updated
- 14 April 2026
- Original description
The goal of this Proof of Concept Feasibility Study is to improve the fixation stability in patients with fixation loss due to blindness or central vision loss using a patented acoustic real-time feedback device. The main questions it aims to answer are:Read full original descriptionShow less
Real-time Acoustic Biofeedback for Enhancing Fixation Stability: A Proof-of-concept Study to Improve Ophthalmic Imaging Diagnostic Quality
The goal of this Proof of Concept Feasibility Study is to improve the fixation stability in patients with fixation loss due to blindness or central vision loss using a patented acoustic real-time feedback device. The main questions it aims to answer are:
1. Fixation guidance - can real-time acoustic biofeedback improve the fixation in healthy patients as well as patients with fixation loss? 2. Optimization of fixation guidance - testing of different stimuli to optimize an acoustic training protocol. 3. Optimization of imaging acquisition - testing improvement of both imaging quality and acquisition time using the acoustic feedback tool.
For the proof-of-concept-study, patients are asked to fixate on a target point in a darkened room and keep up the fixation. We record patients eye movements with near-infrared-lighting and a camera. Fixation is tested in three conditions - visual target only, auditory feedback only, and visual target followed by auditory feedback. In between each set of trials, patients are asked to rate their subjective exhaustion on a Likert scale. At the end of each recording session, patients are handed a questionnaire for feedback on our proof-of-concept study and device settings.
An ethics-approved extension phase is planned to further optimize device parameters and assess performance in a clinical setting.
Inclusion: Healthy participants:; minimum age of 18 years; no neurological or ophthalmological disease; ability to perceive auditory feedback; normal vision; consent to participate in study; Patients:; minimum age of 18 years; existing ophthalmological diagnosis of fixation deficite or loss; ability to perceive auditory feedback; consent to participate in study.
Exclusion: age below 18 years; lack of ability to consent to participate in study; reduced cooperation during examination or recording; inability to perceive auditory feedback; patients with nystagmus or inability to move eyes; opacity of cornea or other ocular structures preventing successful eye tracking; inability to communicate.