Imaging Technology to Assess the Effect of COVID-19 on Retinal Tissues
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Use of Imaging Technology to Assess the Effect of COVID-19 on Retinal Tissues
IRAS ID
291767
Contact name
Lynne Macrae
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Manchester
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 9 months, 20 days
Research summary
This research represents a longitudinal observational study examining retinal imaging changes in patients with COVID-19. We will aim to recruit 20 patients who have been diagnosed as COVID-19 positive and invite them to attend for non-invasive eye tests at Manchester Royal Eye Hospital (MREH) 6-8 weeks after diagnosis. We will seek assistance and advice from our respiratory physician colleagues in accessing these patients. The tests will be arranged and conducted by an existing MREH clinical research fellow under supervision of Professor Aslam. Patients will have their visual acuity assessed as well as fundus photography before non-invasive Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT), Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography (OCT-A) and auto-fluorescence (AF) imaging. We will record their clinical history and ongoing symptoms relevant to COVID-19. The imaging will be done on state of the art wide-field Fourier-domain Canon equipment, providing greatest possible sensitivity for abnormality detection. We will repeat these same scans at 12-14 weeks after diagnosis. The images will first be clinically evaluated by Professor Tariq Aslam and Dr Marta Ugarte, Ophthalmologists with retinal subspecialty training. In a second step, we will apply image processing and analysis techniques to further scrutinize these images. In particular, we will apply software for automated analysis that we have previously published a paper on for the detection of subclinical microvascular changes in OCT-A in systemic disease and other software allowing us to accurately quantify changes in OCT scans.
Our objective in this feasibility study is to determine any differences in retinal imaging between patients with COVID-19 and age and underlying pathology-matched normal patients (n=20) and patients with known diabetic retinopathy (DR) (n=20). We will decipher whether any differences change with time and if they are related to co-existing symptoms.REC name
HSC REC B
REC reference
21/NI/0045
Date of REC Opinion
2 Mar 2021
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion