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A pioneering new study will use specialist clinical software to monitor the impact of a new treatment for wet age-related macular degeneration.

Cambridge-based Digital Healthcare will provide Clinical Trials iP software to enable eye care specialists to analyse digital images of the retina gathered from 3,000 patients per year, over the next four years, in 50 regional eye units across the UK.Digital Healthcare is partnering with three image reading centres located in Moorfields Eye Hospital, London, The Queen’s University of Belfast and the St Paul’s Eye Unit in Liverpool to deliver the study.

Results will be used to measure the effectiveness of the laser-activated drug Verteporfin (known as Verteporfin Photodynamic Therapy) to treat wet AMD.

The study may also serve as a model for using future programmes to monitor other treatments for eye disease in the NHS.

The paperless Clinical Trials iP software handles large volumes of imaging data to diagnose and treat wet AMD using an electronic patient care management system, enabling staff to electronically transfer data between a network of computers for grading.

Professor Chakravarthy of the Centre for Vision Science at Queen’s University, Belfast, said: ‘This is a defining moment in the introduction of new technologies to provide robust findings on the long-term benefits of verteporfin photodynamic therapy for “wet” AMD.’

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