Decentralising the monitoring and treatment of retinal disease: Assessing feasibility and capturing specifications

60岁以上的S有65%患有老年性黄斑变性。这是一种影响眼睛后部区域的退行性疾病。AMD是发达国家导致失明的主要原因。随着人口老龄化，这一患者群体将给已经在努力跟上疾病诊断和治疗负担的卫生系统施加巨大压力。对AMD患者进行成像的临床黄金标准是一种名为光学相干断层扫描(OCT)的技术。这种亚表面成像技术用于诊断患者和监测需要治疗的疾病变化。快速识别这些变化是至关重要的，因为没有接受治疗的每一天都会导致视力丧失。Siloton是一家总部位于布里斯托尔的初创公司，该公司正在使用一种名为光子集成电路(PICS)的新技术来开发一种小型、坚固、低成本的OCT，可以安装在患者家中。这个想法是让患者自己使用该设备，并将图像上传到云中，算法将在云中分析图像并识别需要前往诊所进行治疗的患者。这就消除了监督预约的需要，并确保患者获得正确的药物剂量。Siloton已经建立了OCT设备的概念证明，该项目试图验证这种方法在英国的可行性。该项目将评估此类服务的监管要求，对NHS的财务影响进行健康经济分析，并通过Macular Society运营的焦点小组与患者接触，以便对不同设备形式进行人体工程学分析，并在实施此类解决方案时捕获关键心理因素。这些信息将被用来获得更多的私人投资和更多的非稀释资金，如NIHR产品开发奖。

65% of over 60's suffer with a condition called age-related macular degeneration (AMD). This is a degenerative disease impacting an area at the back of your eye. AMD is the leading cause of blindness in the developed world. As populations age, this patient group will apply substantial pressure to health systems that are already struggling to keep up with the diagnostic and treatment burden of the disease. The clinical gold standard for imaging patients with AMD is a technology called optical coherence tomography (OCT). This sub-surface imaging technique is used to diagnose patients and to monitor for disease changes that require treatment. Rapidly identifying these changes is crucial, as every day that passes without receiving treatment _will_ result in sight loss.Siloton is a start up based in Bristol that is using a new technology called photonic integrated circuits (PICs) to develop a small, robust, and low-cost OCT that can be installed in patient homes. The idea is for patients to use the device themselves and for images to be uploaded to the cloud where algorithms will analyse images and identify patients needing to visit the clinic for treatment. This eliminates the need for monitoring appointments as well as ensuring that patients receive precisely the right amount of medication.Siloton has built a proof of concept of the OCT device, and this project seeks to validate the feasibility of this approach in the UK. The project will assess the regulatory requirements of such a service, perform a health-economic analysis of financial impact to the NHS, and engage with patients via Macular Society-run focus groups in order to perform ergonomic analyses of different device forms and to capture the key psychological factors when implementing such a solution. This information will be used to secure further private investment and further non-dilutive funding such as the NIHR product development awards.