Functional visual screening in children recovering from tumors of the central nervous system (CNS tumors)

In this project different eye tracking based methods for examining the visual field and oculomotor behavior will be evaluated in healthy children and children with visual field defects and/or tumors of the central nervous system. One of these methods is the SONDA software, previously developed by the former ESR in “NextGenVis” Alessandro Grillini and the Cornelissen lab. The other is the BulbiCAM developed by Bulbitech. The study is conducted in Copenhagen, at the Department of Ophthalmology, Rigshospitalet – Glostrup in collaboration with the Department of Pediatrics, Rigshospitalet, with supervision by competent physicians and researchers from both departments.

Supervisors

• Miriam Kolko, MD, Ph.D., Professor and Consultant, Department of Ophthalmology, Copenhagen University Hospital Rigshospitalet-Glostrup and Department of Drug Design and Pharmacology, University of Copenhagen.
• Sarah Linea von Holstein, MD, Ph.D., Speciality Registrar and Post.doc, Department of Ophthalmology, Copenhagen University Hospital Rigshospitalet-Glostrup.
• René Mathiasen, MD, Ph.D., Consultant, Department of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, Copenhagen University Hospital, Rigshospitalet.
• Barbara Nordhjem, Ph.D., Postdoc, Department of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, Copenhagen University Hospital, Rigshospitalet.
• Alessandro Grillini, Ph.D., founder and director of Reperio B.V.

Personal Background and Interest:

I have lived most of my life in the south of Sweden, in Blekinge County. I studied medicine in Örebro, Sweden between 2015 and 2021. My master thesis was conducted at the Department of Neurosurgery at Rigshospitalet in Copenhagen and aimed to investigate risk factors for postoperative CNS infection in children with CNS tumors. I moved to Denmark in October 2021 to be part of this exciting experience and conduct my PhD.

In my spare time I enjoy running, yoga, reading and trying out a variety of arts and crafts.

Aims of the project:

The objectives of my project are to 1) validate a new tests of examining the visual field (SONDA and BulbiCAM) as a reliable methods for their use in children, 2) investigate the correlation between visual field defects detected and retinal nerve fiber loss, 3) compare the oculomotor behavior patterns of healthy children and to children with CNS disease or ocular disease and 4) investigate visual dysfunctions including deviating oculomotor behavior in children with CNS tumor at the time of diagnosis and during a 2-year follow-up period. 

The overall objective of my project is to investigate whether proposed methods can be used for reliably examining visual fields in children. To reach this goal we will investigate (1) whether eye movement based perimetry is equally good in children with ocular vs neurological pathology, (2) what can influence the results of perimetry in children with normal visual fields, (3) whether saccadic reaction time can be related to relative scotomas. I will also examine other spatiotemporal features to investigate whether these can be related to tumor progression in general (objective 4).

Current activities:

To date, I have been working on a review on current methods for examining visual fields in children. Furthermore, I pilot-tested and optimized the SONDA and BulbiCAM approaches for use in normal sighted children. I’m currently including children, aged 4-17, with CNS tumors. In addition to the objective measures of performance, I collect subjective measures using a short questionnaire to investigate which test the study participants prefer. Currently, I am investigating the relationship between tumor location and type of visual field defect together with Henning (ESR1).

Future directions:

My future studies will focus on the aims as outlined in objectives. Data collection is highly prioritized to reach sufficient sample sizes.