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Ophthalmic Consultants of Connecticut (OCC), now part of OCLI Vision, is one of New England’s largest referral-based optometric specialty practices. Its clinical leadership includes nationally and internationally recognized experts whose honors include Newsweek’s America’s Best Eye Doctors, the Optometry Hall of Fame, and The Ophthalmologist Power List.
The practice manages a high volume of glaucoma, neuro-ophthalmic, retinal toxicity, and other complex ocular disease patients, making accurate, reliable visual field testing essential to diagnosis and long-term disease management. Supporting hundreds of referring clinicians, OCC depends on clinical perimetry technology that delivers dependable results while improving workflow, patient experience, and testing capacity.
For Medical Director James Thimons, OD, FAAO, adopting virtual reality perimetry required far more than innovation. As one of the nation’s most respected optometrists, Dr. Thimons required confidence that a wearable perimeter could produce clinically comparable results to the Humphrey Field Analyzer (HFA), the long-established standard for automated perimetry in glaucoma care, while reducing technician burden and improving patient compliance.
After evaluating multiple VR perimetry platforms over several years, Inspire® by RadiusXR became the first system to meet those expectations. Today, the portable visual field analyzer is an integral part of OCC’s glaucoma workflow, expanding testing capacity, improving patient comfort, and giving clinicians the confidence needed to monitor glaucoma progression and manage patients at every stage of disease.
For years, Dr. Thimons explored virtual reality perimetry with one question in mind:
Could a portable visual field platform truly match the clinical confidence of the Humphrey Field Analyzer?
Although earlier VR systems offered promising workflows, they often lacked the consistency and comparability needed to confidently manage glaucoma patients over time.
Transitioning years of longitudinal patient data to a new platform demanded evidence that results would remain reliable and clinically meaningful.
At the same time, traditional bowl perimetry continued to create familiar operational challenges. Patients frequently delayed or avoided testing because of the experience, technicians spent significant time monitoring examinations, and dedicated testing rooms limited scheduling flexibility.
The practice needed a solution that could improve workflow without compromising clinical decision-making.
Clinical validation gave Dr. Thimons the confidence to transition routine visual field testing to Inspire®.
Today, the practice uses Inspire daily across glaucoma management, neuro-ophthalmic evaluations, hydroxychloroquine retinal toxicity screening, headache assessments, and other complex visual field applications.
Several design characteristics stood out during implementation.
The headset’s natural movement with the patient reduced fixation-related interruptions. Matching the Humphrey Field Analyzer’s background luminance provided greater confidence when comparing historical visual field data. Most importantly, clinicians observed fewer repeat examinations caused by poor-quality testing.
For Dr. Thimons, Inspire wasn’t simply another virtual reality headset. It became a clinically dependable visual field platform capable of supporting long-term glaucoma care.
Greater Clinical Confidence
Successful glaucoma management depends on reliable longitudinal data.
During the transition to Inspire, Dr. Thimons and his colleagues carefully compared results against years of Humphrey testing before fully integrating the platform into routine care.
Beyond the published validation study, they observed fewer fixation losses, fewer false negatives, and substantially fewer repeat examinations, increasing confidence in the quality of every test performed.
Traditional bowl perimetry often requires technicians to remain beside the patient throughout the examination.
With Inspire, technicians can initiate testing and remotely monitor patient progress while completing other clinical responsibilities.
According to Dr. Thimons, this change returns approximately two hours of technician productivity each day, allowing staff to support additional patients without increasing staffing requirements.
Tech utilization, before vs. after Inspire®
Expanded Testing Capacity
Portable visual field testing has fundamentally changed how Ophthalmic Consultants of Connecticut schedules patient care.
Rather than relying on a dedicated visual field room, Inspire can be used in virtually any available exam space.
By purchasing two portable systems, the practice immediately doubled its testing capacity while avoiding the significant capital investment associated with purchasing another traditional perimeter.
This flexibility also allows clinicians to repeat visual fields during the patient’s existing visit instead of scheduling a separate return appointment, improving both patient convenience and clinic efficiency.
For Dr. Thimons, every technology purchase comes down to three questions:
Is it clinically comparable?
Does it improve patient care?
Does it deliver meaningful financial value?
Inspire satisfied all three.
The practice expanded visual field availability across multiple offices using just two portable systems while avoiding the cost of purchasing an additional $40,000 to $45,000 traditional perimeter.
The result was greater flexibility, expanded patient access, and a rapid return on investment.
Having spent decades evaluating new ophthalmic technologies, Dr. Thimons believes portable virtual reality perimetry represents the next major evolution in glaucoma care.
He compares today’s transition to the introduction of optical coherence tomography (OCT), a technology that fundamentally changed how clinicians evaluate glaucoma.
For practices seeking to improve efficiency without sacrificing clinical confidence, Inspire delivers more than portability. It enables broader patient access, better technician utilization, lower capital costs, and clinically validated visual field testing within a flexible, modern workflow.
As Dr. Thimons sees it, the future of visual field testing is no longer tied to a dedicated bowl perimeter; it is portable, scalable, and ready to support the next generation of patient care.
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