Eli's Rehab Report

New third option could leave patients seeing clearly.

Stroke survivors may not have to accept partial or full neurological sight loss, if a new therapy works as its developers hope.

More than 20 percent of stroke patients suffer from visual field loss, but Vision Restoration Therapy (VRT) could be a successful option for recovering partial vision, says Boca Raton, Fla-based medical technology company NovaVision, who developed the therapy.

How it works: VRT is "a non-invasive approach to 'rewire' the visual nerves, aiming the healthy neurons to perform the function of those damaged or destroyed by a stroke -- resulting in a wider visual field," Bridges explains.

"While speech, physical and occupational therapies are the long-standing treatment regimens for stroke and brain trauma patients, vision rehabilitation has been an unmet need in the paradigm," he claims.

Opportunity: Don't assume your stroke patient's vision is gone forever. Consider offering some type of vision therapy just in case the option makes a difference. "Even a small gain in central vision has a large impact on the individual's quality of life," the company points out.