Glaucoma Sim – A tool that simulates the impact of glaucoma on vision.

Glaucoma Sim App has been developed by MSD in conjunction with Moorfields Eye Hospital and The International Glaucoma Association (IGA). The App uses the camera on your iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch to simulate the effects of glaucoma on visual field over time.

Features
Detailed medical images showing basic anatomy and physiology of the eye, development of high pressue and development of glaucoma
Disease progression time slider
Image and video capture

How to use Glaucoma Sim App

1. Press Start and point the device camera at whatever you wish to look at
2. To increase the severity of glaucoma experienced, move the ‘Glaucoma Progression’ slider from left to right
3. Switch from camera to video and record pictures and film using the standard controls

About Glaucoma
Glaucoma is the name given to a group of conditions in which the optic nerve suffers a characteristic form of damage at the back of the eye which is often associated with a raised level of intraocular pressure.

The optic nerve damage causes patchy loss of vision that varies in severity from patient to patient.
Without treatment, the loss of vision usually gets worse over the course of many months or several years. The loss of vision in glaucoma is permanent, but with early treatment, the damage to vision can be minimised.
Most patients with glaucoma are not aware of problems with their vision. This is because the central vision (for reading and recognising people) is only affected when glaucoma has advanced to a late stage.

Even when central vision is still good, glaucoma may affect the vision needed for driving and getting about (for instance, seeing steps). Blindness from glaucoma is rare. If blindness does occur, it is usually because the glaucoma is already advanced when it is first diagnosed, because the eye pressure has not responded well to treatment or because patients have not taken their drops regularly.
(Reproduced courtesy IGA website; March 2012)