Clinical Research Directory

Natural History, Pathogenesis, and Outcome of Ocular Disorders

Background: The National Eye Institute (NEI) wants to evaluate and provide standard treatment to people with eye diseases. Objective: To examine and treat people with eye diseases and learn more about eye diseases and how they are inherited. Eligibility: People with eye diseases who can give consent or have a guardian who can consent for them. Asymptomatic first-degree relatives willing to provide a blood sample may also be enrolled for the purpose of genetic testing. Design: Participants will be screened with an eye exam. Participants will have 1-12 visits per year depending on their eye disease for up to 5 years. Visits last about 4 hours and could include: Medical and family history Physical exam Eye exam and photography. Oculography: They put on contact lenses or goggles. They watch spots on a computer screen for 20-30 minutes. Electrooculography: Small metal disks are placed on the skin next to both eyes. They look left and right in the dark and light for about 30 minutes. Electroretinography: They sit in the dark with their eyes patched. A small metal disk is taped to the forehead. After 30 minutes, the patches are removed and contact lenses put in. They watch flashing lights. Fluorescein angiography: A needle guides a thin plastic tube into an arm vein. A dye is injected through the tube and travels up the blood vessels in the eyes. Pictures are taken of the eyes. Immunosuppressive treatment Eye cell sample: Samples are obtained from swabbing, pressing paper on, or taking a small biopsy sample from the surface of the eye. Blood tests Skin, tear, urine, saliva, stool, or hair sample Exam under anesthesia for some children At each visit participants could get medications, eye drops, eye injections, laser treatments, or surgery.

A Multimodal AI Agent for Ophthalmic Clinical Decision Support

This study is a multicenter randomized controlled trial evaluating the effectiveness and safety of EyeAgent, a multimodal artificial intelligence (AI) agent designed to assist ophthalmologists in clinical decision-making. Participants will be recruited from ophthalmology clinics and hospitals in Hong Kong and mainland China. The AI agent acts as a digital co-pilot, analyzing patient images and clinical history to provide diagnostic and management recommendations. The trial aims to determine whether the use of the AI agent improves diagnostic accuracy, treatment decision-making performance, report generation, workflow efficiency, and user satisfaction compared to standard clinical practice.

Virtual Reality and Its Use in Reducing Perioperative Stress in Cataract Surgery

This project is to evaluate the benefits of utilising virtual reality (VR) headsets with the aim of reducing peri-operative anxiety in cataract surgery and hence reducing the need for sedation in patients with significant stress levels noted during preassessment. This is a novel study, and with the increased use of VR technology throughout medicine, we may be able to offer our patients alternative management modalities to reduce stress and reduce need for medications with their subsequent potential side effects. It may also improve the quality of care provided and patients' experience with the cataract extraction procedure and might reduce the social care burden associated with standard sedation procedures. All patients will need to fill a quick preoperative anxiety and information scale questionnaire to assess their level of anxiety utilising The Amsterdam Preoperative Anxiety and Information Score. Patients will be randomised into 2 groups: 1. Conventional group: patients will be prepared as per the standard routine clinical and further explanation of the procedure will be given. Before proceeding to the anaesthetic room, the patients will complete the anxiety score questionnaire again and given the option to proceed with sedation or opt out. 2. Interventional Group: patients will be prepared as per the standard routine clinical care; they will then be wearing the VR mask for 10 minutes. Before proceeding to the anaesthetic room, patients will complete the anxiety score questionnaire again and given the option to proceed with sedation or opt out. Post operation, a record will be taken of the surgeon's decision on whether they want the second eye cataract surgery to be done under sedation (this is already standard practice at our centre). Finally, the patient will be asked to fill in one final grading score on whether they are happy with their decision to take/not take sedation.

THE ROLE OF HEXAMIDINE DIISETHIONATE (ZAMIDINE®) 1MG/ML 0.6ML EYE DROPS IN THE PROPHYLAXIS OF SURGERY OFTALMIC

Data will be gathered from patients who report having any kind of recurrent conjunctivitis and who, in accordance with clinical practice, are scheduled to have intravitreal injections, glaucoma surgery, cataract surgery, vitrectomy, combined cataract and vitrectomy, or corneal transplantation. The data will be obtained using pseudonyms from the patients' medical records and will include the outcomes of swabs and surgeries performed in accordance with clinical practice for the patient's condition. The following swabs will be taken into consideration for data analysis: Four days before to surgery, a conjunctival swab is used to check for the presence and load of species that do not make up the typical conjunctival flora (Baseline-T0). On the day of operation, a conjunctival swab is taken before to entering the recovery room (T1). Following three minutes of 5% iodopovidone instillation in the eye to be operated on, a conjunctival swab (T2) was used. Additionally, we will gather follow-up data from the medical record 24 and 30 hours after surgery (at day 34 +/- 7 days).

Characterization of Potential Biomarkers of Eye Disease and Vision

Characterize potential biomarkers of sight-threatening eye diseases based on the information acquired in clinical practice at CEC, AIBILI