Remote Retinal Monitoring Device: Home-based Miniature OCT

Low cost, home-based, patient self-monitoring OCT (optical coherence tomography) device

Our lead development project for mobile Health (mHealth) (1) applications is the Patient Based Ophthalmology Suite (PBOS). In its first iteration, PBOS aims to improve ophthalmic treatment outcomes in patients diagnosed and treated for wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and diabetic macular edema (DME ), which bring retinal edema and reduction in visual acuity. PBOS is being designed to capture changes in retinal anatomy.

Key features of PBOS are low cost and patient-friendly design, to enable it to be used directly by patients at home. Network connectivity and cloud-based technologies are used to alert the patients and their physicians of disease progression and re-treatment needs.

In 2018, Acucela has completed a successful clinical study that demonstrated PBOS could detect thinning and thickening of the human retina over time, when compared to results from an established commercial OCT. The study was a single-center clinical study which aimed to measure retinal thickness using PBOS, evaluating 12 subjects with normal macular thickness and 20 subjects with center-involving macular edema. The study evaluated the ability to detect changes in retinal thickness over time, and, correlation of retinal thickness measurements by PBOS and a hospital-grade OCT unit.

(1) mHealth refers to the usage of mobile communications technology and devices to enhance access to healthcare information, improve distribution of routine and emergency health services, and provide diagnostic services.