The Tampa Polytrauma Rehabilitation Center and NovaVision, Inc. Help Restore Sight to Soldiers with Impaired Vision Due to Brain Injury
Military Now Granted Access to NovaVision Vision Restoration Therapy (VRT)™, the Only Rehabilitative Treatment Proven to Help Restore Lost Vision
Tampa and Boca Raton, Fla. – August 28, 2007 – NovaVision, Inc. and the Tampa Polytrauma Rehabilitation Center, part of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, announced today that veterans and active-duty military members with vision loss due to traumatic brain injury and stroke will now gain access to a unique rehabilitative treatment - NovaVision VRTTM Vision Restoration TherapyTM (VRT) - proven to help restore sight.
The Tampa Polytrauma Rehabilitation Center is the only veterans institution to provide NovaVision VRT, a treatment cleared by the United States Food and Drug Administration to restore vision lost to brain trauma and stroke.
"Providing brain trauma survivors with access to NovaVision VRT is a significant step forward in the quality of care offered to the nation's veterans and current military members," said Congresswoman Corrine Brown, who serves the Third District of Florida and is a senior member of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs and the Subcommittee on Health.
“Today’s active military deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as veterans from wars past, deserve the highest quality of healthcare available,” said Navroze Mehta, president and CEO of NovaVision. “We’re extremely pleased to collaborate with the Tampa Polytrauma Rehabilitation Center to offer a proven therapy to restore vision and give greater independence and confidence to people who have sacrificed for our country.”
Although each case of vision loss due to brain trauma is unique and needs to be diagnosed to determine if NovaVision VRT is appropriate, it’s estimated that between 10% and 30% percent of servicemembers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan suffer from traumatic brain injury, and roughly 20% of that group could potentially have vision loss.
Patients who qualify for NovaVision VRT undergo comprehensive diagnostic testing to map their seeing and blind areas. Based on their visual field deficits, patients receive a customized therapy program to perform daily at home for about six months. NovaVision VRT is proven effective regardless of how long ago they were injured in the line of duty.
NovaVision VRT is based on the science of neuroplasticity, which is the brain’s ability to adapt, form new neuronal connections and compensate for injury. Earlier this month, an independent study conducted by Randolph S. Marshall, MS, MD, Associate Professor of Clinical Neurology; Acting Director, Division of Cerebrovascular Diseases at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, was published by the peer-reviewed journal, Neurorehabilitation and Neural Repair. The study examined the function MRIs of six patients aged 35-77 with vision loss on the same side of both eyes (called homonymous hemianopia) caused by stroke or traumatic brain injury. The data showed increased activity in visual processing areas of the brain as patients learned to detect stimuli in the borderzone between the seeing and non-seeing fields. This enhanced activity was identified one month after beginning treatment and suggests that the brain is responding accordingly. The study examined the function MRIs of six patients aged 35-77 with vision loss on the same side of both eyes (called homonymous hemianopia) caused by stroke or traumatic brain injury. The data showed increased activity in visual processing areas of the brain as patients learned to detect stimuli in the borderzone between the seeing and non-seeing fields. This enhanced activity was identified one month after beginning treatment and suggests that the brain is responding accordingly
The long-standing treatments for brain trauma patients include speech, physical and occupational therapies.
About NovaVision, Inc.
NovaVision, Inc., headquartered in Boca Raton, Fla., develops and provides scientifically based, innovative medical devices and comprehensive solutions to restore the vision of patients with neurological visual impairments. NovaVision’s FDA-cleared NovaVisionVRT™ (VRT) is based on neuroplasticity – the brain’s ability to adapt and form new connections to compensate for injury. NovaVision diagnostic testing maps areas where vision may be improved, and therapy targets and stimulates regions within the brain’s vision-processing areas.
VRT is based on more than 10 years of research with clinical studies published in leading journals including Nature Medicine, Neurology, and The Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience. Data from a recent retrospective study identified that more than 70 percent of U.S. patients who underwent NovaVision VRT for an initial six-month treatment period showed significant improvement in their vision., , and . Data from a recent retrospective study identified that more than 70 percent of U.S. patients who underwent NovaVision VRT for an initial six-month treatment period showed significant improvement in their vision.
More than 1,000 stroke and traumatic brain injury patients have been treated with NovaVision VRT and clinical results are positive. NovaVision VRT is currently offered at 50 leading neurological, eye and rehabilitation centers nationwide. For more information and a list of centers offering NovaVision VRT, please visit browse the website or call 888.205.8380
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