Tag: eyecare innovation

World Glaucoma Week offers up clear vision for inspiring more eyecare innovation

World Glaucoma Week (9–15 March) is ‘Uniting for a Glaucoma-Free World’ with eyecare innovation high on the list of priorities amid an estimated 150,000 people in Scotland living with the condition.

Supported by formal NHS Scotland partner InnoScot Health, the annual initiative of the World Glaucoma Association (WGA) aims to raise awareness of what is considered the leading global cause of preventable irreversible blindness. 

Last year, InnoScot Health welcomed a £2 million Scottish Government investment aimed at reducing short-term ophthalmology waiting times – but still believes that the focus must remain on embedding longer-term innovation.

The organisation says that the Scottish population has historically suffered from chronic long-term eye diseases, and the multi-faceted, often interlinked issues causing them now requires more advanced approaches alongside efforts to enhance awareness and encourage regular eye tests.

Innovation Manager Frances Ramsay insists that forward-thinking ophthalmic solutions can instil a more sustainable service that helps to prevent further exacerbation of waiting times in future and detect glaucoma in its earliest stages.

She believes World Glaucoma Week is a key annual event for encouraging better preventative understanding and collaborative thinking.

Frances said: “It is undoubtedly an exciting time for innovation in the field of glaucoma detection and treatment, all aimed at improving early diagnosis and more effective management of the disease. Scotland has to be alive to the possibilities.

“Worldwide, we are seeing an increasing focus on such advancements as artificial intelligence-powered image analysis for early detection, genetic testing for risk assessment, and novel drug delivery systems.

“While some of these solutions are not available to us yet, we should be setting our sights on laying the groundwork for their eventual implementation now, creating a more resilient health service.

“World Glaucoma Week is also a reminder that the NHS Scotland workforce can drive that work by leveraging its vast knowledge and deep understanding of patient needs, together with analysis of where bottlenecks occur and identification of smarter, more innovative approaches to solving them.

“NHS Scotland staff with a vision for ophthalmic innovation must be encouraged to use World Glaucoma Week as their focus for inspiring lasting change during this pivotal period of renewal.”

Scotland’s launch of the NHS Community Glaucoma Service in 2023 has demonstrated the potential of independent prescribing optometrists to support eye care at a national level, helping up to 20,000 stable glaucoma patients to be discharged from hospital eye services into the community.

However, ophthalmic innovation from within NHS Scotland can yet unlock more solutions amid an increasing number of treatments for glaucoma patients, including fresh laser-led and minimally invasive procedures.

Frances continued: “Progressive thinking can transform pressured ophthalmic services, and the 180,000-strong NHS Scotland workforce can take a lead on grasping its possibilities in this priority area.

“Ophthalmology responds to a complex mixture of treating the increasing needs of an ageing population, management of life-long issues, and one-off surgical interventions.

“In order to ease demand, Scotland’s forward-thinking workforce should feel empowered to make a vital contribution to an eye-opening future through the submission of ideas, whether simple or complex.”

Encouraging NHS Scotland’s diverse workforce to come up with new ideas that achieve better outcomes in pressured ophthalmology is vital and at the heart of InnoScot Health’s latest innovation call.

The call offers a package of support to health and social care staff, including advice and guidance in such areas as intellectual property protection, regulation, funding, project management, and commercialisation.

Edinburgh AI eyecare innovation to be ‘game-changer’ for NHS staff and patients

A formal NHS Scotland partner has welcomed the prospect of eyecare waiting times being cut thanks to new artificial intelligence (AI) innovation, calling it ‘a real showcase of homegrown expertise’.

Edinburgh-based Eye to the Future’s clinical software support tools are designed to help optometrists optimise referrals to hospital eye services during a critical period which has seen NHS ophthalmology waiting lists grow by 138% since 2012.

The company’s innovative, collaboration-driven technology – incorporating background technology developed by the Universities of Edinburgh and Dundee – analyses images from routine eye examinations to help identify early signs of conditions like glaucoma and reduce blindness.

It has also commanded widespread interest which has led to strong support – from universities and eye care professionals to Scottish Enterprise, Scottish Edge, Innovate UK, and more.

InnoScot Health’s Innovation Manager Frances Ramsay believes that Eye to the Future, a culmination of 20 years of collaborative research, represents an important Scottish success story.

She said: “Harnessing the potential of software like this could be a game-changer for both NHS Scotland staff and patients by optimising existing resources and adopting a more efficient approach to tackling backlogs.

“Eye to the Future has benefited from a package of support to transform academic research into commercial technology. This very much mirrors our approach at InnoScot Health – tapping into the vast knowledge and expertise across NHS Scotland, before collaborating further to turn ideas into commercial reality, and importantly, improving patient outcomes.

“It shows how just one individual’s moment of inspiration can lead to a big impact when the knowledge and support of others is drawn upon to catalyse great ideas, echoing our own assistance for pressured ophthalmology through the encouragement of Scotland’s next generation of clinical entrepreneurs.”

Professor Emanuele Trucco, co-founder of Eye to the Future said: “Only 24% of NHS eye units currently believe they have enough consultants to meet demand.

“By using sophisticated analytics tools to help optometrists make more accurate referral decisions, we can ensure the right patients get specialist care at the right time, while reducing unnecessary hospital appointments. This is crucial as every delay risks worsening eye conditions and ultimately irreversible sight loss.”

Eye to the Future was named runner-up in the Converge Challenge category of the 2022 Converge Awards, which works in close partnership with universities to encourage academic entrepreneurs.

Through Converge, the company received funding – part of a broader package of support – to help accelerate, what Professor Trucco called, “academic research towards real commercial impact,” while benefitting from “valuable insights into how our technology could make a meaningful difference to patients and clinicians”.

Frances continued: “We wish Eye to the Future well as it prepares to launch its product this year, with a pilot currently underway at Glasgow Caledonian University’s School of Optometry.”

More innovative solutions are needed to tackle growing pressure on NHS eye care across Scotland with ideas welcomed through InnoScot Health’s ophthalmology innovation call. It offers a package of support for NHS Scotland staff including advice and guidance in areas of intellectual property protection, regulation, funding, project management, and commercialisation.

The organisation has supported and worked with innovators on solutions including Peekaboo Vision, an app created by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, and the iGrading platform, a diabetic retinopathy screening tool developed alongside NHS Grampian and the University of Aberdeen.