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In children with normal vision, both eyes are used equally. However, in children who have “lazy eye,” or amblyopia, one eye is not used enough for the visual system in the brain to develop properly. The brain ignores the images from the weak eye and uses only those from the stronger eye, which leads to poor vision.
Amblyopia is the most common cause of single-eye visual impairment among children and young to middle-aged adults. The condition affects approximately two to three out of every 100 children.1 However, 72 percent of children with the disorder go undetected until after the treatment window expires.
Pediatricians and family physicians typically use eye charts to screen for the presence of certain risk factors. However, studies have shown that only 25 percent of three-year-olds and 50 percent of four-year-olds can successfully complete this type of test. In addition, performing this test on pre-school children can take an average of five minutes or more due to their inability to stay on task and the need to continually coax appropriate responses.
Current vision testing methods, such as eye charts and photoscreeners, can be difficult to perform on young children. However, hand-held automatic vision screening devices can diagnose vision problems in less than 10 seconds, which means that children can be diagnosed quickly and accurately.
Automatic vision screeners are simple to use and are reliable diagnostic tools. The portable units require little time to learn, and nurses, technicians and other trained personnel can administer tests both in the office and in remote, off-site settings.

National Eye Institute. “Amblyopia Resource Guide.” http://www.nei.nih.gov/health/amblyopia/index.asp#3 (4 April 2006).