Perimetry while moving the eyes: implications for the variability of visual field defects

Abstract

Background: In standard perimetry, subjects fixate so that saccades are reduced and testing precision is increased. However, because vision in daily life requires eye movements, it is appropriate to assess visual fields during eye movement.

Methods: Perimetry was carried out in 8 healthy subjects and in 16 patients with visual field defects under conditions of a stable and moving fixation spot. Eye movements were simultaneously recorded with an eye tracker. Outcome measures included stimulus detection, variability of visual field border, and saccade amplitudes.

Results: Perimetric performance during stable fixation was comparable to that during eye movement. All subjects showed 92%-96% correct detections of the fixation controls and a stable and comparable blind spot position in the stable and moving fixation spot conditions. The eye tracker revealed that 97% of the time the eyes were positioned within +/-1 from fixation.

Conclusions: Visual fields obtained by perimetry while moving the eyes is comparable to standard perimetry in which a stable fixation spot minimizes eye movements.