Head Turn During Visual Field Testing to Minimize the Influence of Prominent Facial Anatomy

Facial contour naturally decreases the visual field. Peripheral visual field defects caused by facial anatomy and ocular pathology can be missed in a routine standard of care. Mathematically calculating the true angle for turning the head to optimize the peripheral visual field has not been studied to date. The purpose of this study was to explore the utility of turning the head during perimetry to maximize the testable visual field.

Six healthy study participants aged 18-52 were enrolled, prospectively; the dominant eye of each participant was tested. In total, 60-4 visual fields were obtained from each participant's dominant eye with the head in primary position. Then, the 60-4 tests were repeated with the head turned prescribed degrees toward and away from the tested eye ("manual method"). Based on a photograph of the participant's face, a convolutional neural network (CNN) was used to predict the optimal head turn angle for maximizing the field, and the test was repeated in this position ("automated method").

Maximal visual field exposure was found at a head turn of 15° away from the tested eye using the manual method and was found at an average head turn of 12.6° using the automated method; maximum threshold values were similar between manual and automated methods. The mean of threshold in these subjects at the standard direction and the predicted optimum direction was 1,302, SD = 69.35, and 1,404, SD = 67.37, respectively ( P = 0.02).

Turning the head during perimetry maximizes the testable field area by minimizing the influence of prominent facial anatomy. In addition, our CNN can accurately predict each individual's optimal angle of head turn for maximizing the visual field.