Military Now Granted Access to NovaVision Vision Restoration Therapy (VRT)(TM), the Only Rehabilitative Treatment Proven to Help Restore Lost Vision
BOCA RATON, Fla., Aug. 28 /PRNewswire/ -- 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 VRT(TM) Vision Restoration Therapy(TM) (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, M.D., M.S., associate professor of clinical neurology and acting director, Division of Stroke and Critical Care at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, was published by the peer-reviewed journal, Neurorehabilitation and Neural Repair. The study examined the functional 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.