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VISION study

WHO ARE WE? 

Hello! Our names are Hanna, Holly, and Nele. We are a team of scientists at the University of Oxford, and we are running the VISION study. We will be recruiting adults to take part in our visual rehabilitation study. Please get in touch with the study team for more information: visual.rehab@ndcn.ox.ac.uk.

WHAT IS THE VISION STUDY? 

VISION is short for Visual Intervention for optimising neuroplasticity in stroke

After a stroke, many people experience problems with their vision, such as visual field loss. There are currently few treatments available. Recent studies show that visual rehabilitation may help improve vision. This visual rehabilitation has now been designed in Virtual Reality (VR). 

This study has two parts:

  • The first part aims to understand whether a VR-based visual intervention is useable by stroke survivors.
  • The second part aims to understand whether a VR-based visual intervention is practical to be used in a future clinical trial.  

WHO ARE WE LOOKING FOR? 

We are looking for adult (18+ years old) stroke survivors to take part in our research study. 

To be eligible:

  • You have visual field loss caused by a stroke. 
  • You had a stroke to the occipital cortex.  
  • You have normal or corrected-to-normal visual acuity. 
  • Your stroke occurred within the last three months.  
  • You are willing to interact with VR and computer-based tasks. 
  • You have sufficient understanding of spoken English to understand a simple explanation of the study and follow simple instructions. 

We are looking to include up to 76 stroke survivors in this study (16 for study 1, and 60 for study 2).

WHAT DOES PARTICIPATION INVOLVE?

Pre-Screening Call

  • Participants will have a 30-minute phone call to discuss the study and their possible eligibility
  • Participants who meet our inclusion/ exclusion criteria will be invited to take part in our study

Study Visits

  • Study 1:
    • Participants will take part for 2 weeks
    • They will visit the research centre twice (pre-intervention and post-intervention)
    • At the each visit you will complete some computer-based tasks and visual field tests to assess how you are seeing
    • You will then complete two weeks of VR-training at home
    • At the post-intervention visit you will also complete a questionnaire or structured interview about the VR intervention. 
    • Each research visit will take up to 4 hours
  • Study 2:
    • Participants will take part for 6 months 
    • They will visit the research centre three times (pre-intervention, post-intervention and follow up)
    • At each visit you will complete some computer-based tasks and visual field tests to assess how you are seeing
    • You will then be randomised to either receive: the intervention (3 months of VR training at home) or standard care 
    • At the post-intervention visit you will also complete a questionnaire or structured interview about the VR intervention. 
    • Each research visit will take up to 4 hours

WHERE DO VISION STUDY VISITS TAKE PLACE?

All visits will take place at the Oxford Centre of Integrative Neuroimaging (OxCIN) at the John Radcliffe, in Headington, Oxford. 

WILL I BE REIMBURSED?

Your travel expenses will be reimbursed. 

CONTACT

If you have any questions, want more information, then please get in touch with the study team: visual.rehab@ndcn.ox.ac.uk

We would love to hear from you!

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