Revolutionizing Patient Monitoring in Age-Related Macular Degeneration: A Comparative Study on the Necessity and Efficiency of the AMD VIEWER

• Published in: Bioengineering Vol. 10; no. 12; p. 1426
• Main Authors: Tabuchi, Hitoshi, Yamauchi, Tomofusa, Nagasawa, Toshihiko, Deguchi, Hodaka, Tanabe, Mao, Tanaka, Hayato, Yasukawa, Tsutomu
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 15.12.2023
• Subjects: Acuity; Age; Age related diseases; age-related macular degeneration; Bioengineering; Biology (General); Comparative studies; Data management; Decision making; Diagnosis; Efficiency; electronic medical record; Eye diseases; Glaucoma; Health services; information and communication technology; long-term follow up; Macular degeneration; Medical informatics; medical system; Methods; Monitoring; Ophthalmology; Patient monitoring; Patients; QH301-705.5; School dropout programs; School dropouts; T; Technology; Telemedicine; Time series; Vascular endothelial growth factor; Visual acuity; Japan; electronic medical record; information and communication technology; long-term follow up; age-related macular degeneration; medical system
• DOI: 10.3390/bioengineering10121426
• ISSN: 2306-5354

(1) Background: Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD) is a critical condition leading to blindness, necessitating lifelong clinic visits for management, albeit with existing challenges in monitoring its long-term progression. This study introduced and assessed an innovative tool, the AMD long-term Information Viewer (AMD VIEWER), designed to offer a comprehensive display of crucial medical data—including visual acuity, central retinal thickness, macular volume, vitreous injection treatment history, and Optical Coherent Tomography (OCT) images—across an individual eye’s entire treatment course. (2) Methods: By analyzing visit frequencies of patients with a history of invasive AMD treatment, a comparative examination between a Dropout group and an Active group underscored the clinical importance of regular visits, particularly highlighting better treatment outcomes and maintained visual acuity in the Active group. (3) Results: The efficiency of AMD VIEWER was proven by comparing it to manual data input by optometrists, showing significantly faster data display with no errors, unlike the time-consuming and error-prone manual entries. Furthermore, an elicited Net Promoter Score (NPS) of 70 from 10 ophthalmologists strongly endorsed AMD VIEWER’s practical utility. (4) Conclusions: This study underscores the importance of regular clinic visits for AMD patients. It suggests the AMD VIEWER as an effective tool for improving treatment data management and display.