Lazy eye or amblyopia is one of the most common causes of visual impairment in children. A new study looked at whether a special type of iPad game could be a new way to treat lazy eye. The standard treatment for amblyopia involves patching the opposite eye to force the affected eye to work harder.

Researchers from the Retina Foundation of the Southwest studied 28 children with amblyopia ages 4-10. The children were randomly assigned to two groups in a clinical trial, one that used the iPad game for treatment and one that used the standardized treatment of patching. They found that after two weeks, children who had the iPad game improved more than the children who had patched.