Clinical Research Directory

Efficacy and Safety of Myopic Macular Hole Closure Surgery Without Endotamponade Agent

Macular hole (MH) is a common condition that affects approximately 1.6/1000 elderly Chinese population. The prevalence is expected to be even higher in individuals with high myopia (HM), an established risk factor for MH. Without prompt surgical intervention, it can lead to irreversible vision loss and retinal detachment. Standard MH surgery involves pars plana vitrectomy (PPV) with internal limiting membrane (ILM peeling), followed by endotamponade agents to appose the MH edge. Office of Research and Knowledge Transfer Services Common endotamponade agents include intraocular long-acting gas and silicone oil. The use of endotamponade has its limitations, for example, impairing vision, the need for strict posturing and avoid air travel in the early postoperative period. Ocular complications, such as uveitis, cataract and glaucoma may arise. To overcome these shortcomings, a novel technique to close MH without endotamponade agents was proposed by a group from Poland. Using viscoelastics to stabilize ILM flap over the MH, negating the need and limitations of endotamponade agents. However, this case series is limited by its small sample size (12 eyes) and lack of patients with pathological myopia (PH). PH is prevalent in the Asian population and myopic MH tend to have lower surgical success rate due to antero-posterior traction from posterior staphyloma and long axial length associated with PH. There is currently a gap in evidence whether this novel surgical technique could benefit eyes with myopic MH. The investigators plan to conduct a prospective interventional case series to establish the efficacy and safety of myopic MH closure using this novel surgical technique.

Retinal Clinical Assessment With AI-derived Quantitative Information

This randomized controlled trial evaluates whether providing clinicians with AI-derived quantitative retinal information improves the quality and efficiency of retinal clinical assessment. Participating ophthalmologists and ophthalmology trainees will be randomly assigned to one of two groups. The intervention group will write clinical reports with access to automated quantitative measurements generated from fundus image analysis, including multiple retinal structural and vascular biomarkers. The control group will complete the same reporting tasks using only the original fundus images without AI-generated quantitative information. All reports produced by both groups will be de-identified and independently evaluated by a separate panel of senior ophthalmologists who are blinded to group allocation. The expert evaluators will assess report accuracy, completeness, clarity, and overall clinical quality using predefined scoring criteria. The study aims to determine whether access to quantitative retinal biomarkers enhances clinicians' reporting performance and reduces reporting time during retinal assessment tasks.

No Endotamponade for Macular Hole Repair: the NEMAR Study

Full-thickness macular hole (MH) is a common sight threatening macular condition with a prevalence of 3.3 per 1000 individuals. Prompt surgical repair of MH is imperative in preventing irreversible vision loss from MH as the majority of patients would experience progressive loss of central vision, often resulting in visual acuity (VA) of 20/200 or worse and the spontaneous closure rate is less than 10%. Pars plana vitrectomy (PPV) with internal limiting membrane (ILM) peeling (with or without ILM flap) and gas tamponade, herein referred to as conventional surgery, is the current standard-of-care surgical technique in repairing MH. Recently, a novel surgical technique that omits the need of gas tamponade to repair MH has been proposed, early results from retrospective studies were encouraging. The purpose of this prospective international multi-centre randomised controlled study is to compare the efficacy and safety of two surgical techniques in treating MH: 1. Conventional surgery: PPV with ILM peeling and gas or silicone oil tamponade 2. ILM flap with no gas tamponade surgery: PPV with ILM flap with no gas tamponade

DISCOVER Study: Microscope-integrated Intraoperative OCT Study

Optical coherence tomography (OCT )provides high resolution information regarding the anatomic structure of the tissues of the eye in a cross-sectional and 3 dimensional view. Much of this information is not able to be visualized by a clinician. Utilizing this information during surgery will allow for the ophthalmic surgeons to better understand how surgical procedures impact the anatomic structure of the eye. In this study an OCT device that has been built into the microscope (rather than mounted on the side or held in the surgeon's hand) and will be utilized to take images at various milestones during surgery to assess feasibility and potential utility of this technology. Since it is built into the microscope, there are potential significant advantages over a separate system including increased efficiency, improved working distance, and the ability to visualize tissue-instrument interactions.

Head Position Monitoring After Pars Planar Vitrectomy

In ophthalmic surgical practice, particularly for treating retinal detachment and macular hole disorders, vitrectomy procedures are routinely performed to remove the vitreous body followed by the injection of tamponade agents such as gaseous compounds (e.g., C3F8 or SF6) or silicone oil. These tamponade materials function by creating internal pressure against the retinal surface to facilitate reattachment. A critical determinant of surgical success in these cases is postoperative head positioning (prone posturing), as improper alignment may compromise the tamponade effect. At the investigators' institution, participants undergoing such procedures are prescribed a strict prone position regimen for 7 consecutive postoperative days. This facedown positioning protocol aims to optimize interfacial contact between the tamponade agent and retinal tissue. However, conventional clinical practice faces a significant limitation: the inability to objectively verify patient compliance with prescribed postural guidelines outside clinical settings. Subjective patient reporting and intermittent clinical observations prove insufficient for quantifying adherence levels. To address this critical gap in postoperative monitoring, the investigators propose implementing a novel electronic monitoring system integrated into therapeutic eye patches. This advanced device incorporates a miniaturized triaxial gyroscopic sensor array capable of continuously tracking cephalo-cervical orientation with high angular resolution. The system features complete electrical isolation from ocular tissues while maintaining sterility. Data acquisition occurs through a microSD card (capacity: 16GB) that logs positional parameters at 0.2Hz sampling frequency, creating comprehensive temporal records of head movement patterns.

Intraocular Gas Tamponade for Treatment of Large Idiopathic Macular Holes

The goal of this clinical trial is to evaluate the visual and anatomical outcomes of large (410-1000 μm) full-thickness macular holes repair surgery using perfluoropropane (15% C3F8), sulfur hexafluoride (20% SF6) gas tamponade.

Minimal Vitrectomy and ILM Flap with Sodium Hyaluronate Gel for MH

The purpose of this clinical trial is to compare the prognostic validity of two different surgical approaches: minimal posterior pole vitrectomy combined with a sodium hyaluronate gel-covered internal limiting membrane(ILM) flap with balanced saline filling and postoperative supine position, versus conventional vitrectomy combined with ILM flap flap coverage with sterile air filling and postoperative prone position. The main question it aims to answer is: Whether patients with macular hole have the same or even better prognosis with minimal posterior pole vitrectomy combined with sodium hyaluronate gel covered flip ILM flap accompanied by balanced salt solution filling accompanied by postoperative supine position than with conventional macular hole surgery. Participants will: The control group undergoes conventional vitrectomy combined with internal limbal flap coverage accompanied by sterile air filling of the vitreous cavity and three days of postoperative surgery in strict supine position. The study group undergoes minimal posterior pole vitrectomy combined with sodium hyaluronate gel-assisted flap of the inner border membrane accompanied by 24 hours of postoperative surgical treatment in a non-strict supine position. Participants of this study come to Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital for follow-up examinations at 1 day, 3 days, 1 week, 1 month, 3 months, and 6 months postoperatively in the 23rd clinic of the Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital for review of visual acuity, intraocular pressure, fundus photography, optical coherence tomography angiography, microfluidic field of view (at 6 months postoperatively), and slit-lamp examination.