THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, June 9, 1996 TAG: 9606080088
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 14 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Cover Story
SOURCE: Pam Starr, Staff writer
LENGTH: 150 lines
WHEN ELIZABETH Pruitt wears an imposing piece of headgear in public, she has to brace herself for the inevitable reaction.
Strangers laugh and tell her to ``Use the force, Luke,'' or ask ``Are you Darth Vader's wife?''
Nevermind that the contraption - the Low Vision Enhancement System (LVES) - is a vision prosthetic that Pruitt must wear to see more clearly. Diabetic retinopathy destroyed the 30-year-old woman's central vision over the past three years, casting spotty patches of gray on objects and leaving her unable to see or focus on objects clearly.
Pruitt said she thought her life was over until May 11, 1995, when she tried on the 2-pound LVES (pronounced Elvis) for the first time. Faces of friends suddenly popped into her field of vision, and Pruitt wept for joy. So did everyone else present.
``It was totally awesome, just a flood of emotions that first time,'' Pruitt recalled. ``I was so ready to give up - I felt like my life had stopped.''
Using the LVES is like wearing a video camera on your head. It makes images larger and amplifies their contrast. Two miniature cameras at eye level give users a three-dimensional, wide-angle view while the zoom lens on top magnifies images from three to 10 times their normal size.
It's also self-focusing. A control unit about the size of a thick paperback is worn around the waist. It runs off rechargeable batteries, which take about an hour to charge and provide 90 minutes of use. Once the desired magnification is set, the user's hands are free to pursue hobbies, watch television, read, watch sporting events, and sight see.
Many optical devices are available to help people with low vision: telescopes, closed-circuit TV, magnifiers, glasses and other devices. And Pruitt has them all. But nothing comes close to LVES, which incorporates all of those devices into one portable electronic system.
The LVES represents a breakthrough in technology that was 10 years in the making. It was invented at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in collaboration with NASA and the Department of Veterans Affairs. Research began in 1984. Several hundred people around the world now use the LVES; two of them in Hampton Roads, including Pruitt and a woman in Chesapeake.
Mid-Atlantic Low Vision Center on First Colonial Road is the only center in Virginia that carries the LVES. Optometrist and low vision specialist Dr. Erica Hacker investigated the LVES in Baltimore at Pruitt's urging and was convinced that many of her patients could benefit from the new device.
The LVES is made by Visionics Corp. under license from the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. It's available only through certified centers where the staff has been specially trained in its use.
``LVES is not just a magnifier on your head,'' Hacker said. ``It's very new in the field. . . . I'm so glad I have it. Now I have something realistic to offer patients who aren't helped by surgery or special lenses.''
The technology does not come cheap, however. The LVES costs about $6,000 - and it's not covered by health insurers. For users who work, their employers may be able to cover all or part of the cost under the Americans With Disabilities Act. In some areas, the Lions Club provides financial assistance.
Pruitt, the first patient in Hampton Roads to own one, paid for her LVES with personal loans. But she said that the cost is more than worth her renewed independence.
For the first time in years, she has been able to visit museums, watch television from a respectable distance, read her mail, work at the computer and shop for groceries. She uses LVES at school, the Vocational Rehabilitation for the Blind in Richmond, where she's training to own a vending business.
The LVES has become so important to her that Pruitt even refers to it as a ``he.''
``I took him to the Smithsonian, he was great there,'' Pruitt said, grinning. ``I love going to museums. I can kick back and sit and zoom in on things. It's incredible.''
But everything has its limits.
The LVES, for example, cannot make the blind see.
The LVES cannot be used for driving. It's not supposed to be used for walking (but Pruitt cheats on that account). The picture is only in black and white because color technology would make the LVES prohibitively expensive, possibly $25,000, and weigh 9 pounds.
Sometimes the LVES gets heavy on Pruitt's head, she said, and when the weather is exceptionally warm it makes her face sweat. The LVES also does not help her to read small print.
``But another person won't have that problem,'' she said from her Timberlake home. ``I don't have enough central vision.
``I shouldn't fuss,'' she added with a chuckle. ``At least I can see.''
Although Pruitt said that her vision has gotten better since using LVES, Hacker emphasized that LVES is not touted as a cure.
``LVES is NOT a cure for retinal atrophy,'' Hacker said. ``I have one other patient who uses the LVES and thinks it has helped her vision, but that's not the case.''
Hacker specializes in low vision disorders such as glaucoma, macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, optic nerve disease and retinitis pigmentosa. These disorders, which can't be corrected by surgery, medication or special lenses, are best served by LVES.
Most patients who could be helped by LVES still require other vision devices. Pruitt, for example, uses telescopes, magnifiers and a closed circuit television for specific tasks (such as reading small print).
The LVES, she said, is for ``all-around stuff.'' Looking out the window of her home, Pruitt pointed to two cars on the driveway.
``Without LVES I can tell there are cars on the driveway,'' she explained. ``With LVES I can see the details and tell you what kind of cars they are.
``I'm able to do a lot more on my own,'' she continued. ``I have more control, I don't have to ask for help. It's wonderful.''
The biggest adjustment Pruitt has had to make since buying the LVES last August has been in dealing with those rude comments from the public. Even though the LVES does look like a prop used in a ``Star Wars'' movie, Pruitt doesn't laugh with the strangers who say she looks like Darth Vader's wife.
``People - and it's always adults - are being jerks. They have no idea what a visual impairment is,'' Pruitt said. ``I do feel extremely obvious with LVES, but I'm learning to overcome that.''
The spunky brunette then smiled devilishly, her mouth the only part of her face that was visible.
``I get back at them by turning them into X-ray pictures with the flip of a switch.'' MEMO: For more information about LVES, call the Mid-Atlantic Low Vision
Center at 481-1719. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photos by D. KEVIN ELLIOTT
The Low Vision Enhancement System (LVES) enables Elizabeth Pruitt to
see more clearly. It's for ``all-around stuff'' she says - even for
reading recipes - if the print isn't too small.
Pruitt's eyes are seen on television screens as she looks through an
ELVS at the Mid-Atlantic Low Vision Center. She is the first person
in the area to own the device.
ABOVE: Pruitt, who suffers from diabetic retinopathy, holds the LVES
that improves her vision. Though sometimes it gets heavy on her
head, she says, and the contraption is expensive - about $6,000 -
Pruitt says, ``It's wonderful.'' RIGHT: Dr. Erica Hacker adjusts the
vision prosthetic on Pruitt's head. The LVES is available only
through certified centers. ``Now I have something realistic to offer
patients who aren't helped by surgery or special lenses,'' Hacker
says.
Here is what someone with diabetic retinopathy might see when
looking at a picture held by Dr. Hacker. LVES makes images larger
and amplifies their contrast. Many devices are available for people
with low vision, but nothing comes close to LVES.
This control unit, worn around the waist, lets Pruitt adjust the
zoom and contrast on her LVES. The device runs off rechargeable
batteries. Once the desired magnification is set, the user's hands
are free to pursue hobbies, watch TV or read.
KEYWORDS: LOW VISION ENHANCEMENT SYSTEM (LVES) by CNB