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RecruitingNCT06107881BeST-AIDUpdated Sep 24, 2026

Beacon Sensors and Telerehabilitation to Assess and Improve Use of Devices (BeST-AID) for Low Vision

An interventional study of Low Vision Rehabilitation in Low Vision and Low Vision Aids, sponsored by University of California, Los Angeles. Recruiting at 9 sites in United States. Open to participants aged 18 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-09-24.

Sponsored by University of California, Los Angeles · Not applicable, Interventional, and Treatment

From the registry’s dates

  • Started Dec 2023; still recruiting 2 years 10 months later.
Phase
Not applicable
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
350
Allocation
Randomized
Ages
18 Years and older
Sex
All
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Study summary

One goal of this research is to conduct a non-inferiority trial of telerehabilitation versus in-office care to provide follow-up training to individuals with low vision to enhance their quality of life by using magnification devices and/or visual assistive mobile apps for important daily activities, such as reading and/or other valued tasks. This is a high priority given the increasing prevalence of low vision, paucity of low vision rehabilitation providers, and barriers related to access to care, such as transportation and geography, which can be essentially eliminated with telerehabilitation. Another goal of this project is to determine whether significant changes in environmental data collected by Bluetooth low energy beacon sensors can be used as a solution to monitor and indicate when low vision patients' have abandoned the use of their magnification devices, which has the potential to substantially enhance patient management by providing timely low vision rehabilitation services.

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Conditions studied

  • Low Vision
  • Low Vision Aids

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03

In context

Vision, Low

98 studies on the registry are indexed under Vision, Low; 23 are open to participants now.

This study's planned enrollment of 350 is above the median of 60 across 78 interventional studies indexed under Vision, Low.

Browse Vision, Low studies →

Lead sponsor

University of California, Los Angeles is the lead sponsor of 1,170 studies on the registry; 195 are open to participants now.

Of its 95 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 70 (74%) have results posted.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

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Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years and older
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
No

Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.

Inclusion criteria

  • adults with any level of vision loss due to any ocular disease who are age 18 and older, and who have received new magnification device(s) for the first time (i.e., hand-held optical magnifiers, portable electronic video magnifiers, high near add powers of +4.00 or greater, visual assistive mobile apps for their smartphone/tablet, some stand magnifiers and CCTVs) from one of our participating low vision rehabilitation sites at the four academic centers and one private practice.

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • schedules not permitting participation in planned study visits (including planning to move far from their clinical provider's office within the first 4-months of the study (i.e., cannot attend in-office visits) or take extended vacation that would not allow them to complete study procedures during the first four months of the study period),
  • inability to understand study procedures or communicate responses to visual stimuli in a consistent manner (greater than mild cognitive impairment as per TICS),
  • substance abuse,
  • significant hearing loss (unable to hear communication by phone or via videoconferencing),
  • significant medical condition likely to limit participation or lifespan,
  • individuals who require other types of LVR training or intervention (e.g., psychosocial).
  • For Bluetooth low energy beacon sensors, exclusion would occur if their magnifier device has features that would not work in conjunction with the beacon sensors: (1) hands-free and do not have a place where the patient's hand is holding the device during use (therefore, they would not register a significant change in temperature), (2) no surface area of at least 1"x1" to which the beacon sensor could be attached without interfering with the device, or (3) use of visual assistive mobile apps only.
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Study design

Phase
Not applicable
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention model
Parallel assignment
Masking
Single (Outcomes assessor)
Enrollment
350 participants (estimated)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    Telerehabilitation with low vision provider

    Low Vision Rehabilitation for use of magnification or visual assistive devices using videoconferencing for remotely delivered follow-up care

    Behavioral: Low Vision Rehabilitation

  • Active comparator
    Usual Care In-Office

    Low Vision Rehabilitation in-office for use of magnification or visual assistive devices

    Behavioral: Low Vision Rehabilitation

Interventions

  • BehavioralLow Vision Rehabilitation

    Evaluation and training with magnification or visual assistive devices for visually-impaired adults

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What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Activity Inventory

    questionnaire; scores will be Rasch analyzed in logic units with higher or positive scores indicating less difficulty (i.e., improvement)

    Time frame: changes from 1 month to 4 months to 8 months to 12 months to 13 months after receiving a magnification device

Secondary outcomes

  1. MNread

    reading speed and acuity test

    Time frame: baseline, 1 month, 4 months, 8 months, 12 months, 13 months

  2. Sustained Silent Reading Test

    prolonged reading test

    Time frame: baseline, 1 month, 4 months, 8 months, 12 months, 13 months

  3. International Reading Speed Text (IReST)

    reading speed test

    Time frame: baseline, 1 month, 4 months, 8 months, 12 months, 13 months

  4. Radner Reading Charts

    reading speed and acuity test

    Time frame: baseline, 1 month, 4 months, 8 months, 12 months, 13 months

  5. Vision rehabilitation satisfaction survey

    surveys: post-telerehabilitation or in-office visits

    Time frame: after each session that will occur over a period of 1 to 8 months and and again at about 1 year

  6. Informant surveys by close acquaintances of participants

    survey

    Time frame: 4 months, 8 months, 12 months, 13 months

  7. Adherence to hand-held optical magnifier use (frequency and duration)

    Bluetooth low energy beacon sensor data

    Time frame: baseline to 13 months

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Study locations

1 of 9 sites recruiting
  • Southern Califonia College of Optometry
    Fullerton, California 92831, United States
    Not yet recruiting
    • Patrick Yoshinaga, OD · Contact
  • Chan Family Optometry
    Grass Valley, California 95945, United States
    Not yet recruiting
    • Tiffany L Chan, OD · Contact
  • UCLA Stein Eye Institute
    Los Angeles, California 90095, United States
    Recruiting
    • Ava K Bittner, OD, PhD · Contact310-206-4649
    • Ava K Bittner, OD, PhD · Principal investigator
  • Frank Stein & Paul S. May Center for Low Vision Rehabilitation at The Eye Institute
    San Francisco, California 94102, United States
    Not yet recruiting
    • Tiffany Chan, OD · Contact
  • See What You Miss Optometry
    Santa Monica, California 90401, United States
    Not yet recruiting
    • Lynn Watt Kurata, OD · Contact
  • New England College of Optometry
    Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
    Not yet recruiting
    • Nicole C Ross, OD · Contact
  • Boston University Eye Associates, Inc.
    Brockton, Massachusetts 02301, United States
    Not yet recruiting
    • Lexi G Malkin, OD · Contact
  • Mid-Michigan Eye Care
    Midland, Michigan 48640, United States
    Not yet recruiting
    • John E Kaminski, OD · Contact
  • University of Nebraska: Weigel Williamson Center for Visual Rehabilitation at the Truhlsen Eye Institute
    Omaha, Nebraska 68198, United States
    Not yet recruiting
    • John Shepherd, MD · Contact
08

References and documents

Publications

  • Bittner AK, Yoshinaga PD, Rittiphairoj T, Li T. Telerehabilitation for people with low vision. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2023 Jan 13;1(1):CD011019. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD011019.pub4. PubMed 36637057 ↗
  • Malkin AG, Ross NC, Chun MW, Bittner AK; CARE Study Team. Why Are Visual Assistive Mobile Applications Underused by Low Vision Patients? Optom Vis Sci. 2022 Apr 1;99(4):333-334. doi: 10.1097/OPX.0000000000001893. No abstract available. PubMed 35213868 ↗
  • Kaminski JE, Yoshinaga PD, Chun MW, Yu M, Shepherd JD, Chan TL, Deemer A, Bittner AK; BeST-AID Study Team. Value of Handheld Optical Illuminated Magnifiers for Sustained Silent Reading by Visually Impaired Adults. Optom Vis Sci. 2023 May 1;100(5):312-318. doi: 10.1097/OPX.0000000000002013. Epub 2023 Mar 22. PubMed 36951854 ↗
  • Bittner AK, Kaminski JE, Ross NC, Shepherd JD, Thoene SJ, Bui SZ, Yoshinaga PD; BeST-AID Study Team. Telerehabilitation Training to Facilitate Improved Reading Ability with New Magnification Devices for Low Vision. Optom Vis Sci. 2022 Oct 1;99(10):743-749. doi: 10.1097/OPX.0000000000001944. Epub 2022 Sep 6. PubMed 36067410 ↗
  • Bittner AK, Yoshinaga PD, Shepherd JD, Kaminski JE, Malkin AG, Chun MW, Chan TL, Deemer AD, Ross NC; BeST-AID Study Team. Acceptability of Telerehabilitation for Magnification Devices for the Visually Impaired Using Various Approaches to Facilitate Accessibility. Transl Vis Sci Technol. 2022 Aug 1;11(8):4. doi: 10.1167/tvst.11.8.4. PubMed 35917136 ↗
  • Bittner AK, Estabrook M, Dennis N. Bluetooth Low Energy Beacon Sensors to Document Handheld Magnifier Use at Home by People with Low Vision. Sensors (Basel). 2021 Oct 25;21(21):7065. doi: 10.3390/s21217065. PubMed 34770374 ↗
  • Bittner AK, Yoshinaga P, Bowers A, Shepherd JD, Succar T, Ross NC. Feasibility of Telerehabilitation for Low Vision: Satisfaction Ratings by Providers and Patients. Optom Vis Sci. 2018 Sep;95(9):865-872. doi: 10.1097/OPX.0000000000001260. PubMed 30169361 ↗
  • Bittner AK, Jacobson AJ, Khan R. Feasibility of Using Bluetooth Low Energy Beacon Sensors to Detect Magnifier Usage by Low Vision Patients. Optom Vis Sci. 2018 Sep;95(9):844-851. doi: 10.1097/OPX.0000000000001266. PubMed 30169359 ↗

Individual participant data

Plan to share: Undecided — Please contact the principal investigator

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Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Sep 24, 2026, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
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Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT06107881
Collaborators
University of Nebraska, New England College of Optometry, Southern California College of Optometry at Marshall B. Ketchum University, Mid-Michigan Eye Care
Responsible party
Ava K. Bittner, OD, PhD (Associate Professor of Ophthalmology, University of California, Los Angeles) — Principal investigator
First posted
Oct 30, 2023
Start date
Dec 15, 2023
Primary completion
Jun 30, 2028 (estimated)
Completion
Jun 30, 2028 (estimated)
Last update
Sep 24, 2026

Study contacts

UCLA Study Coordinator
Contact
JessicaSLin@mednet.ucla.edu
310-794-5602
Ava K Bittner, OD, PhD
principal investigator · University of California, Los Angeles

Oversight

FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

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