Could a home device replace hospital trips for diabetic eye disease?
NCT ID NCT06610747
First seen Jun 27, 2026 · Last updated Jun 27, 2026
Summary
This trial investigates whether people with diabetic macular edema can safely monitor their vision and eye health at home instead of making frequent hospital visits. Participants use a home vision tester and a portable eye scanner every four weeks, with results sent to their doctor. The study compares vision outcomes over 96 weeks between home-based and standard clinic-based care.
What this could mean
Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.
- Active substance
- Home-based monitoring (self-administered visual acuity test and OCT device)
- What this could lead to
- If successful, this approach could allow people with diabetic macular edema to manage their condition from home, reducing the need for frequent hospital visits.
- What could go wrong
- This is a mid-stage trial with 308 participants, and home devices may not detect complications as reliably as in-clinic exams. Results may not apply to all patients.
This is an AI summary of the original study and may miss details. Read our disclaimer.
Study facts
What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.
- Phase
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Not a phased trial
Phase numbers describe drug development. The registry uses this when they do not apply, as it does for trials of devices, procedures or behaviour changes, and for observational studies.
- Participants
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About 308 people
The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.
- Started
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Oct 2024
- Expected to finish
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Apr 2027
An estimate. End dates often move.
- Lead sponsor
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Other sponsor
The registry's catch-all category, for sponsors it does not file as a company, a government agency, or a research network.
Who can take part
This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.
- Ages
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18 years and older
- Sex
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Anyone
- Healthy volunteers
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Not accepted
This study is not open to healthy volunteers. The entry requirements below say who it is open to.
Show the full entry requirements Hide the full entry requirements
Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.
Participant-level Criteria: Inclusion Criteria: To be eligible, the following inclusion criteria must be met: * Age of 18 years or older; * Type 1 or type 2 diabetes mellitus * Current regular use of insulin for the treatment of diabetes or current regular use of oral anti-hyperglycemia agents for the treatment of diabetes * Travel time from home to the hospital/clinic within a 2-hour driving distance * At least one eye meets the study eye criteria listed in Section 2.4 * Ability and willingness to operate the self-administrated visual acuity tester and Home OCT device by themselves or with the help of family after training * Ability and willingness to provide informed consent Exclusion Criteria: An individual is not eligible if any of the following exclusion criteria are present: * Conditions that would preclude participation in the study, such as unstable medical status including blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, renal disease, and glycemic control as determined by the investigators * History of systemic anti-VEGF or pro-VEGF treatment within 4 months before randomization. These drugs should not be used during the study; * In an investigational trial within 30 days of randomization that involved treatment with any drug that has not received regulatory approval for the indication being studied * Blood pressure \&gt; 180/110 (systolic above 180 or diastolic above 110. If blood pressure is brought below 180/110 by anti-hypertensive treatment, then the individual may be eligible * History of myocardial infarction, other acute cardiac event requiring hospitalization, stroke, transient ischemic attack, or treatment for acute congestive heart failure within 4 months before enrollment * For women of child-bearing potential: pregnant or lactating or intending to become pregnant within the next 2 years. Women who are potential study participants should be questioned about the potential for pregnancy, and the investigator will determine when a pregnancy test is needed * Currently participating in other clinical trials * The individual who might move out to an area beyond 2-hour driving distance during the first 12 months of the study Study eye-level Criteria: The participant must have at least one eye meeting all of the inclusion criteria and none of the exclusion criteria listed below. Participants can have only one study eye. If both eyes are eligible at the time of enrollment and one of the eyes has never received anti-VEGF treatment, that eye should be included. If both eyes are eligible and have previously received anti-VEGF treatment or both eyes have never received anti-VEGF, then the better-seeing eye will be selected before enrollment. If neither eligible eye is the better-seeing eye, then the investigator and participant will select the study eye by mutual agreement before enrollment.The definition of better-seeing, worse-seeing and same eye is in the followings: * If the baseline visual acuity letter score in both eyes is 50 (20/100) or better, the better-seeing eye is the eye with better baseline visual acuity (better than that of the fellow eye by 5 letters or more), and the worse-seeing eye is the eye with worse baseline visual acuity (worse than that of the fellow eye by 5 letters or more); if the baseline visual acuity of one eye is within 4 letters of that of the fellow eye, the two eyes are the same and neither eye is the better-seeing eye. * If the baseline visual acuity letter score in both eyes is \&amp;lt; 50 (20/100), the better-seeing eye is the eye with better baseline visual acuity (better than that of the fellow eye by 10 letters or more), and the worse-seeing eye is the eye with worse baseline visual acuity (worse than that of the fellow eye by 10 letters or more); if the baseline visual acuity of study eye is within 9 letters of that of the fellow eye, the two eyes are the same and neither eye is the better-seeing eye. The eligibility criteria for a study eye are as follows: Inclusion Criteria: * Central-involved DME (central subfield thickness on OCT defined on Heidelberg Spectralis OCT 320 μm or more in men and 305 μm or more in women, or Zeiss Cirrus OCT 305 μm or more in men and 290 μm or more in women, or the equivalent on spectral-domain OCT based on gender specific cutoffs) * Best corrected visual acuity letter score ≤ 78 (i.e., 20/32 or worse) and ≥ 24 (i.e., 20/320 or better) within seven days of inclusion * Received no treatment for DME before, or received no anti-VEGF injection for DME within the past 3 months; however, if there is a history of anti-VEGF injections, \<=1 injection in the past year and \<=3 injections over the study participant's lifetime); or, \<=2 monthly injections within the past 3 months and \<=3 injections over the past year, and \<=6 injections over the study participant's lifetime. * Sufficient media clarity, pupillary dilation, and individual cooperation to allow for adequate fundus photographs and adequate OCT Exclusion Criteria: The following exclusions apply to the study eye only (i.e., they may be present for the non-study eye): * Macular edema due to reasons other than diabetes * Any history of prior laser, other surgical or corticosteroid treatment for DME (such as focal/grid macular photocoagulation, intravitreal corticosteroids or peribulbar corticosteroids) within the prior 12 months * History of intravitreal anti-VEGF for an ocular condition other than DME (e.g., choroidal neovascularization, central retinal vein occlusion, PDR) within the prior 6 months or anticipated need in the next 6 months * Coexisting ocular diseases that might alter visual acuity during the course of the study, such as a retinal vein or artery occlusion, uveitis or other ocular inflammatory diseases, neovascular glaucoma, etc. * A substantial cataract that, in the investigator's opinion, is likely to be decreasing visual acuity by 3 lines or more. This means that the cataract would be reducing acuity to 20/40 or worse if the eye were otherwise normal * History of major ocular surgery (including vitrectomy, cataract extraction, scleral buckling, any intraocular surgery, etc.) within prior 4 months or anticipated within the next 6 months following randomization * Uncontrolled glaucoma * Severe external ocular infection, including conjunctivitis, chalazion, or substantial blepharitis.
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Conditions
The condition(s) this trial relates to.
As listed by the trial registrant
The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.
How to take part
Only the study team decides who joins. These are the ways to reach them.
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The places running it
4 sites. The list below names each one and where it is.
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The official record
ClinicalTrials.gov lists the study team's own contact details, including names and phone numbers. We don't republish those.
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A doctor treating you
A doctor who knows your case can contact a study site on your behalf, and can tell you whether this study is worth pursuing at all.
Contacts and locations
Locations
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Dongguan Guangming Ophthalmic Hospital
RECRUITINGDongguan, Guangdong, China
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State Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology, Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center, Sun Yat-sen University
RECRUITINGGuangzhou, Guangdong, 510000, China
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The First Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University
RECRUITINGGuangzhou, Guangdong, 510000, China
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The Second Peoples Hospital of Foshan
RECRUITINGFoshan, Guangdong, China
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