Developing low-light sight tests to detect AMD earlier

Overview

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a major cause of sight loss. It gets worse over time and about 4 in 10 people develop late-stage ‘dry’ AMD.

Several treatments have been tried for AMD, but they may have been given too late to save sight because there hasn’t been a reliable way to monitor the early stages. So we need to develop better ways of measuring people’s vision in both bright and low light. (The light-detecting ‘photoreceptor’ cells that work in low light are affected earlier than the bright light cells.) We also need to be able to pick up smaller changes to vision as well as to find a way to measure changes that can’t be picked up by a sight test alone.

In this project, the research team is trying out a new sight test, in bright and low light, with people who have early AMD, late-stage dry AMD and Stargardt macular degeneration. The team is also using a patient-friendly laser scanner to find out how closely packed the photoreceptors we use in bright light are. They will match up people’s sight test results with what the laser scan shows. They will also compare the new test results with results from conventional tests to find out how reliable the new test is.

Results from the study should help with earlier diagnosis, better monitoring of how AMD is progressing, better ways to measure the effect of potential treatments and perhaps new clinical guidelines on how to diagnose and follow-up on people with AMD.