On the look-out for colour blindness volunteers

A University of Bradford student is keeping an eye out for UK patients with colour blindness to help him in his PhD project.

John Maguire is taking ‘electro-retinograms’ – a picture of the nerve signal to the brain in response to colour – of people with colour vision deficiencies.

He told OT that he is seeking participants who have been diagnosed as colour blind themselves, or who are unaffected but have a close family member with the condition.

The volunteers will undergo a 90-minute test during which a very precise set of coloured lights will be flashed in the eye and the nervous system response recorded by electrodes around the eye and head of the participants.

Using a precise colour will allow him to examine the response of individual cone types, he said.

Testing has already started, with four people’s nerve responses measured, and aligning with the expected results. “We’ll be comparing these to a normal-sighted group,” he explained.

The aim of the study is to create a colour vision deficiency diagnostic test that does not require people – who might be too young or otherwise incapable of articulation – to give a subjective account of what colours they can see in a test.

People interested in participating can email Mr Maguire.