MEC ImpactReport 2023 flipbook - Flipbook - Page 16
Patient care
Monitoring eye health
with smartphone apps
Many patients with chronic eye conditions
need to be closely monitored at all times.
This is because it is important to spot any
changes in their eye or vision quickly, as
unless they are treated, such changes may
lead to irreversible sight loss. But attending
regular routine hospital appointments is
inconvenient for patients and makes it
harder for clinicians to prioritise those that
most need urgent care to protect their sight.
Researchers are therefore now investigating
whether smartphone apps that scan the eye
and estimate the risks to the patient’s sight
could help improve the monitoring of common
chronic eye conditions.
Self-monitoring with smartphones
Dr Roxanne Crosby-Nwaobi,
lead nurse for research at
Moorfields, was awarded an
innovation grant to explore
whether a smartphone app
called RetinaRisk could improve
care for patients with diabetic
retinopathy - a common
complication in patients with
high blood sugar levels and
the leading cause of sight loss
in people aged 20-69. She
found that such smartphone
apps were welcomed by
patients, since they provided
individualised and regular
feedback on the current state
of their eye conditions at home
in an accessible way (using a
‘red-amber-green’ traffic light
scale).
The charity also awarded an
innovation grant to Dr Dawn
Sim, at the time consultant
ophthalmologist at Moorfields,
to trial a smartphone app
called AllEye, to help Moorfields
patients with macular disease
to self-monitor their eye health
at home.
Her research found that
AllEye was broadly effective
in raising the alarm when
macular disease worsened and
when treatment was possibly
needed, allowing clinicians
to more quickly identify and
prioritise those patients and
potentially protect their sight.
What next?
Eye care smartphone apps would empower patients to better participate in monitoring
and even managing their own care and help clinicians to prioritise those patients who need
care urgently. The next steps are to further evaluate these apps, their validity and scope in
identifying worsening eye health, before they can be relied upon for routine monitoring of
patients with chronic eye conditions.