How a Smartphone App is Helping Patients Monitor Their Vision

Patients with macular degeneration have traditionally had to attend regular in-person appointments.

This is not always easy. Deteriorating sight often means that driving or travelling by public transport is difficult. Face to face appointments are also costly and time consuming for clinicians, placing a strain on limited NHS capacity.

A different approach has recently been piloted by Moorfields Eye Hospital in London. They have been testing a smartphone app called Home Vision Monitor.

The app has been specifically designed for people with macular degeneration. It is proving successful in helping patients continue to have their vision monitored whilst in the comfort of their home.

Using the new smartphone app patients test their vision at least twice a week. Results are then instantly shared with their clinician at Moorfields Eye Hospital. If tests reveal any deterioration in the patient’s eye health, an alert is automatically triggered to their clinician. This enables the clinician to decide on the correct course of action, helping them intervene at an early stage of disease progression and providing patients with the possibility of a better outcome.

Rachel, a 78 year old patient with MD is a fan of the new system. “Being able to use my phone at home to monitor my eyes has been great,” she says. “It’s good to know that the data in the app goes to my team at Moorfields and that they can see any changes in my vision before I come in so I don’t have to explain it all. Everyone has been so helpful and my eyes feel much better now.”

This case study is not connected to AbbVie in any way and has been provided by Dods Impact