Smartphone Applications for Amblyopia Treatment: A Review of Current Apps and Professional Involvement

The objective of this study was to review games for amblyopia (lazy eye) that are commercially available in mobile applications (apps) stores and assess the involvement of eye care professionals in their development.

The Google play store and the Apple iTunes store were searched in July 2017 and updated in September 2017 for amblyopia games using the terms amblyopia, lazy eye, amblyopia therapy, lazy eye therapy, lazy eye exercises, amblyopia exercises, lazy eye games, and amblyopia games. General ophthalmology or optometry apps and apps in languages other than English were excluded.

A total of 42 games were identified, 12 Android only (28%), 20 iOS only (48%), and 10 (24%) both Android and iOS. Most of the games were available under the medical category (60%). Most of the games were released in 2015. The price of the games ranged from $0.00 to $32.00 (USD). Nearly half of the games (45%) were to be played binocularly either using red-green goggles (38%) or a virtual reality set (7%). Only 7% of the games had explicitly documented the involvement of eye care professionals during game development. Only one game (app) was developed in collaboration with a research group and a children's hospital.

This study identified that most of the currently available games do not have eye care professional input. An establishment of the quality assurance by a body of qualified eye care professionals could enhance the confidence of patients and clinicians using the game.