iPad helping treat lazy eye in kids

Amblyopia also known as lazy eye is one of the most common eye problems in children.

It affects 3% to 5% of all kids.

Basically, the eyes don't work together because the muscles controlling one eye are weaker than the other.

The conventional treatment is to put a patch over the stronger eye, forcing the lazy eye to work harder.

But a specially designed iPad game may be more effective - plus, it's fun for kids.

In a small test, kids either wore a patch, or played the game while wearing a special pair of eyeglasses.

Experts say the results were striking.

"At the two week visit, children who had the iPad game improved much more than children who patched. Both groups improved about two lines of vision on the letter chart, and about 40% of the children recovered normal vision," Krista Kelly, Ph.D. of the Retina Foundation of Southwest said.

Like a patch, the glasses make the weaker eye work harder while playing the game.

The work is being done in Dallas, by the Retina Foundation of the Southwest.

Doctors are already planning tests to see whether using the system long term is effective.