Invited: New Technologies in Age Related Macular Degeneration Screening, Monitoring and Management

Age related macular edema (AMD) affects tens of millions world-wide, and rates of those affected are only expected to rise. The development of new treatments changed significantly the visual acuity outcome of the patients and prevent blindness in 90% of cases. However, the current methods of diagnosis and treatment create an unacceptable burden for patients, caregivers, physicians and the system. Thus technologies for self-assessment by the patients would be very beneficial for lowering the burden and enabling long term treatment modalities such as long acting drugs and slow release devices without frequent physician monitoring.

The ForeseeHome is a device designed for early diagnosis of AMD. With a short and simple daily test for each eye, ForeseeHome is able to detect miniscule changes in vision, and of course, alert the patient`s doctor. The ability of the device to detect early has been proven and the device is used commercially in the united states.

The development of Home OCT may significantly change the game. It is meant to replace the in-clinic optical coherence tomography test. Home OCT technology will be presented and shown to be quick, easy to use, and feasible for elderly patients.

The use of machine learning will be presented to enable the results of the above tests to be interpreted automatically and send an alert to the physician and the patient.