At present, it is a problem to interpret and evaluate the relation of the damage and the death of photoreceptor cells with visual function in the study of retinal diseases. In recent years, the application of visual head tracking in rodents makes it possible to evaluate the relation of the damage and the death of photoreceptor cells with visual function. Behavioral evaluation, of which the relative study has made some progress, is predominate in continuous evaluation of animal's visual function. According to present researches of optkinetic testing on rodent animal with retinal diseases, the principles, the innovations, the achievements and the problems in application of the equipment in optkinetic response research are summarized to provide evidence when testing methods are being chosen in the study of animals with retinal diseases.