Humphrey Visual Field Analyser

The Humphrey Visual Field Analyser (HVFA), is a tool for measuring the human visual field, it is used by optometrists, orthoptists and ophthalmologists, particularly for detecting monocular visual field.

The results of the Analyser identify the type of vision defect. Therefore, it provides information regarding the location of any disease processes or lesion(s) throughout the visual pathway. This guides and contributes to the diagnosis of the condition affecting the patient's vision. These results are stored and used for monitoring the progression of vision loss and the patient's condition.

The Analyser projects a series of white light stimuli of varying intensities (brightness), throughout a uniformly illuminated bowl. The patient uses a handheld button that they press to indicate when they see a light. This assesses the retina's ability to detect a stimulus at specific points within the visual field. This is called retinal sensitivity and is recorded in 'decibels' (dB).

The Analyser currently utilises the Swedish Interactive Thresholding Algorithm (SITA); a formula which allows the fastest and most accurate visual field assessment to date. Results are then compared against an age-matched database which highlights unusual and suspicious vision loss, potentially caused by pathology.

The Analyser can be used for screening, monitoring and assisting in the diagnosis of certain conditions. There are numerous testing protocols to select, based on the purpose. The first number denotes the extent of the field measured on the temporal side, from the centre of fixation, in degrees. The '-2' represents the pattern of the points tested. They include:

The above tests can be performed in either SITA-Standard or SITA-Fast. SITA-Fast is a quicker method of testing. It produces similar results compared to SITA-Standard, however repeatability is questionable and it is slightly less sensitive

The Test Library houses additional tests for more specific purposes such as the following:

The Analyser test takes approximately 5–8 minutes, excluding patient set up. There are multiple steps which need to be done before commencement of the test to ensure reliable results are attained.

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Wikipedia