A major collaboration agreement will be announced tomorrow (24 May) which will provide high street optometrists with an automated computerised technique for spotting the early signs of potentially sight threatening eye disease in those suffering from diabetes.
Professor Peter Sharp, Head of the 黑料网鈥檚 Department of Biomedical Physics and Bioengineering, explained: 鈥淭he University is one of the UK鈥檚 leading centres of expertise and research in diabetes.
鈥淭ogether with Professor John Forrester and his team in the Department of Clinical Ophthalmology, we have been working on applying advanced imaging techniques to spot the very early stages of diabetic eye disease by analysing retinal photographs.
鈥淭he early stages of our work were funded by the Wellcome Trust and the Grampian University Hospitals Trust, with NHS R & D Health Technology Assessment Programme providing major funding in the later stages. This has resulted in a software programme that can rank pictures according to the number of microaneurysms present. (Microaneurysms are caused when blood vessels in the retina become so thin that tiny leakages occur. If undetected, they can lead to blindness.)
鈥淲e are delighted that we have reached the next stage of the development, commercialisation of our research , which will enable the public to benefit from our work. We are particularly pleased to be signing the collaboration agreement with Digital Healthcare Limited of Cambridge which is one of the UK鈥檚 leading image management systems companies.鈥�
Professor Forrester added: 鈥淒iabetes is a debilitating illness that affects a growing number of people around the world, particularly in the young and in those of working age.
鈥淚n the UK, the NHS spends around 拢2Billion every year in treating the disease. It accounts for 8% of the health service budget and diabetics occupy 10% of the chronic hospital beds in the country. The disease is becoming more prevalent in developing countries, prompting the World Health Organization to suggest that it is now pandemic.
鈥淒iagnosing and monitoring the disease must become a priority because, with proper treatment, the individual can live a relative healthy and normal life. Without medical or dietary intervention, however, the implications are severe.
鈥淭he commonest cause of blindness in the young working age population in the western world is caused by diabetic retinopathy, when blood vessels are damaged, the blood supply to the retina fails, microaneurysms and swelling of the retina occur and finally cause new vessels to grow. If left untreated, these lead to impaired vision and blindness as they spread across the light sensitive parts of the eye.鈥�
Gerry Skews, Managing Director of Digital Healthcare, said: 鈥淭he combination of the Diabetic Retinal Screening Software and our high resolution image capture and database technology will allow automatic, routine screening of thousands of images. The results will then be presented as a prioritised list for further analysis.
鈥淲e estimate that this will offer a significant improvement in quality, reduce effort and cut screening time by up to 50%.
Both the Univeristy of Aberdeen and Digital Healthcare are confident that a commercial package will be fully implemented by the end of the summer. This will mean that high street opticians will be able to make a quick and easy diagnosis of potential sight problems in those suffering from diabetes, without the need to refer individuals to specialist clinics unnecessarily. This will clearly lead to a huge saving in money and time and prevent patients suffering anxiety needlessly.
Further information from:
Professor Peter Sharp, Tel: 01224 552499
Dr John Olson, Tel: 01224 553217
Christine Cook, Executive Director of Public Relations, Tel: 01224 272014
Comments on diabetic screening can also be obtained from Mr Malcolm McPherson of McPherson Optician, 23 King Street, Aberdeen, Tel: 01224 647734
University Press Office on telephone +44 (0)1224-273778 or email a.ramsay@admin.abdn.ac.uk.