Personalised Monitoring of Early and Intermediate Age-related Macular Degeneration With Artificial Intelligence and Identification of Disease Progression

To be part of this study, you generally need to be between 55 and 99 years old. You must have been diagnosed with early or intermediate Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD) in at least one eye. This means your eye doctor would have seen certain signs, like small deposits called drusen, or changes in the pigment at the back of your eye.

However, there are several reasons why you might not be able to join. For instance, if you've had recent eye surgery, certain eye injections, or have other serious eye conditions like uncontrolled glaucoma or advanced cataracts. If you're taking medications known to harm the retina, or if your AMD is already in an active, advanced stage, you wouldn't be eligible.

The research team will carry out a thorough check of your eyes to make sure that taking part in the study is safe and that your condition fits what they need for the research. They'll also make sure your vision isn't too blurry from other causes that might interfere with the eye scans.

If you join this study, you will be followed for two years. During this time, you'll have regular check-ups every six months. These visits will involve several routine eye examinations, including various types of eye scans such as pictures of the back of your eye and 3D images that show different layers of your retina. They'll also ask about your medical history and how you’re seeing, possibly using a questionnaire about your vision.

It's important to understand that no new treatments or medications will be given to you as part of this study, as there isn't a widely approved treatment for early or intermediate AMD in Europe yet. If a treatment does become available and approved during the study, you might be able to receive it, but this would be outside of the study’s specific procedures and based on what’s standard care in the UK.