IN-vision, the infantile nystagmus charity, funded essential equipment, costing £24,000, which enabled a new paediatric eye-movement clinic to launch in South-West England on April 25th. The state of the art clinic at Plymouth Hospital’s Royal Eye Infirmary (REI) welcomed medical professionals and members of the public and not only performs diagnostic testing but also administers clinical assessment in a single session.

Attendees were given demonstrations of diagnostic devices, including the new EyeLink1000 plus Eye Tracker, funded by IN-vision. The EyeLink1000 plus allows for more precise detection of small changes in eye movement and minimises the amount of time an infant or small child needs to remain stationary.

Professor Chris Harris (Professor of Neuroscience at the University of Plymouth) and members of the clinical team gave a series of talks on eye movement disorders and Liz Charter, IN-vision co-founder and chair, attended with her son, Mikey (who has nystagmus) who performed the ribbon-cutting duties.

The Eye Movement clinic will enable Professor Harris to carry out important research on the development of nystagmus, a condition for which the cause is currently unknown.

Liz Charter said: “We are enormously proud to provide the Eyelink for Professor Harris and his team. None of this would be possible without the support of all those who have helped us on our journey, raising around £24,000 for the eye tracker – and we are hugely grateful. The approach of researching nystagmus as a developmental condition is revolutionary and incredibly exciting, as it could lead to early intervention.”

Julie Owen, Head Orthoptist said: “Liz and little Mikey are an inspiration. They were so meticulous in making sure that the money that was so kindly given to the charity was money well spent. We owe it to those people to make this work. The new equipment will enhance our clinical assessment and our management of specific eye movement problems, but also provides essential data for research into infantile nystagmus, which may affect as many as 1 in 1,000 children. We welcome referrals from all over the country and will do our best for these patients as well as drive the research.”

For more information about the new service offer at the REI, please contact the Orthoptic Department on 01752 439309 or email julie.owen4@nhs.net.