Russell L. Woods

Visual Impairment

Central vision impairment (the most common visual impairment in "western" countries due to the prevalence of age-related macular degeneration) causes problems with reading, face recognition and watching television and movies.Dr Woods has investigated factors that impair might reading performance such as having a difference in the vision between the two eyes, how people read with optical magnifiers and he has evaluated the potential benefits of some methods for the electronic display of reading material. Electronic images, whether television, video or DVD, are a common source of entertainment and information. So, Dr Woods is involved in studies that are evaluating methods of modifying the appearance of electronic images from television etc., in the hope that visually-impaired people will more easily gain information from the images, thereby increasing their enjoyment of electronic media.

Restriction of the visual fields (extent of vision) is the major factor that causes reduced mobility among people with visual impairment. Clearly, if you have no visual field (blind) or a severely restricted visual field ("tunnel vision"), then orientation and mobility is not easy. However, it is not clear whether all parts of the visual field contribute equally to our ability to move safely and efficiently through the environment, nor at what level of deficit people would benefit from rehabilitation (e.g. orientation and mobility training). Therefore, Dr Woods conducts studies to understand the visual input to mobility. In addition, devices that, in some way, restore the vision lost due to the visual impairment are evaluated. Mobility studies include assessments of basic vision (i.e. how the visual system works) and studies evaluating moving through the real world and through virtual worlds (e.g. a simulated shopping mall).

Helping the Clinician Use and Evaluate Tests

Often busy Clinicians find it difficult to use new tests because it is difficult to interpret the information from the test. Dr Woods has shown how a simple clinical measurement of contrast sensitivity (the ability to detect objects of low contrast) can be used as a screening test for ocular disease among older people. Clinical grading is a method of determining the severity of a condition that allows Clinicians to compare the status of a patient between practitioners and across time with greater precision than the use of descriptive words such as "slight" or "severe". Dr Woods proposed a numeric system that could be used across a wide variety of clinical conditions and appearances. Since then he has evaluated the use of these grading scales in a series of small studies.