You may be trying to access this site from a secured browser on the server. Please enable scripts and reload this page.
Turn on more accessible mode
Turn off more accessible mode
Skip Ribbon Commands
Skip to main content
Turn off Animations
Turn on Animations
It looks like your browser does not have JavaScript enabled. Please turn on JavaScript and try again.
Appointment
Find a Condition or Treatment
Find a Doctor
Menu
About Us
Back to Home
Corporate Profile
Hospital Overview
Our Story
Vanda SKH
Key Milestones
Awards & Achievements
Meet Our Leaders
Whistle-blowing Policy
Sengkang Community Hospital
Newsroom
News Release
News Articles
SKOOP
Working with Our Community
Volunteer Opportunities
Community Health Posts (CHP)
Calendar of Events
Visitor Information
Personal Data Protection Act
Getting to SKH
Car Park Information
Amenities
Contact Us
Appointments
Check Fake News
Feedback & Compliments
Retail Opportunities
Patient Care
Back to Home
Conditions & Treatments
Conditions & Treatments
Find Your Medicine
Patient Resources
Specialties & Services
Emergency Visit
Clinic Visit
SKH Telemedicine
Patient Classification
Make, Change or Cancel an Appointment
Clinic Locations
Collecting Your Medications
Medication Delivery Service
Follow-up Appointment
Outpatient Consultation Charges
Payment Options
Hospital Stay
Preparing for Admission
Preparing for Surgery & Anaesthesia
Preparing for Colonoscopy
Advance Care Planning
Going Home After Discharge
Ward Virtual Tour
Bills & Payments
E-Services
Bills and Payment
Research & Innovation
Back to Home
About Research Office
Research Publications
SingHealth Research
Education & Training
Back to Home
Undergraduate
Postgraduate
Professional Development
Clinical Job Shadowing
GP Education
SingHealth Academy
Careers
Back to Home
Career Choices
Employee Value Proposition
Employee Benefits
Our Healthcare Professionals
Doctors
Nurses
Allied Health Professionals
Management and Administration
Ancillary and Support
Sponsorships
Healthcare Scholarships
SKH Sponsorship Application
Job Opportunities
Contact Us
Giving
Back to Home
Why Give
Impactful Giving
What's Happening
Make a Gift
Gratitude Pool of Donors
Home
to skip to the main content on a page
to skip to the main content on a page
Home
>
news
>
research
>
eye researchers develop imaging tool to accurately determine high myopia risk in children
Eye researchers develop imaging tool to accurately determine high myopia risk in children
2023-10-19T07:21:23.0000000Z
SingHealth Article Page
6382
It looks like your browser does not have JavaScript enabled. Please turn on JavaScript and try again.
Eye researchers develop imaging tool to accurately determine high myopia risk in children
Facebook
WhatsApp
Email Us
share
Font Resize
A-
A
A+
Print
By
9/12/2023 12:16:00 AM
|
The article is contributed/written by
The tool acts as a biomarker for high myopia, and can provide a reliable guide to the timing of treatment for patients who are at risk.
This study is part of Singapore National Eye Centre's and Singapore Eye Research Institute's continuous efforts to reduce the incidence of local high myopia cases and its associated pathological complications.
Singapore, 12 September 2023
– Scientists at the Singapore Eye Research Institute (SERI) are developing an imaging tool to enable eye care professionals to determine the risk of children getting high myopia (above -5.00 dioptres). The researchers hope that this would improve treatment decision-making by ophthalmologists, allowing them to identify the best time for patients to receive intervention for high myopia. This is one of the latest myopia studies by SERI and the Singapore National Eye Centre (SNEC) that work toward improving myopia management and the long-term goal of bringing down the rates of high myopia among children locally, thus preventing sight-threatening complications in adulthood.
Dangers of high myopia
While refractive error can be corrected by spectacles, contact lenses, or surgery, unmitigated progression to high myopia can lead to increased risk of developing sigh-threatening complications. Recent studies report that 10 to 30 per cent of patients with high myopia develop associated pathological complications later in life, such as myopic maculopathy and optic neuropathy, which lead to irreversible visual impairment.
The need for biomarkers to reliably predict myopia progression
The sclera (white part of the eyeball), is a dense, collagen-rich and mechanically strong tissue that coats the eye and protects its internal structures. When myopia develops, the sclera at the back of the eyeball becomes thinner and weaker, and enlarges in surface area. This results in the excessive elongation of the eyeball, causing impaired vision (short-sightedness). As such, examining the sclera at the back of the eye could provide more information on a patients' risk of high myopia. However, there is currently no known method to inspect this part of the eye in vivo.
The researchers are thus looking to develop the imaging tool as a biomarker to capture how patients' scleral collagen structure changes at the back of the eyes, to enable clinicians to evaluate myopia status, predict its progression, and identify scleral weakening and potential risk of pathological changes. Initial results of this study were published in
Nature Biomedical Engineering
in June 2023, with an accuracy of about 85 to 90 per cent.
"High myopia is prevalent in Singapore, and is associated with severe visual complications, especially among the older population. There is an urgent need to address this issue because, while majority of highly myopic patients are still young now, it will become a major problem and cause of blindness in the future. The biomarker we are working on aims to help us understand, with high accuracy, which child will develop high myopia, and the most appropriate time and type of treatment for him or her," said Professor Leopold Schmetterer, Scientific Director and Head of Ocular Imaging at SERI.
The new imaging tool will leverage optical coherence tomography (OCT) technology, which is a rapid, non-invasive way of imaging the eye, and can be safely performed to identify children at risk of developing high myopia. This new imaging tool could also be implemented in primary eye care settings, like optometry practices and or general practitioners. The results could be generated immediately for the primary eye care provider to give further advice, or a referral to a specialist if necessary.
"In the longer term, this technology could enable ophthalmologists to better determine the optimal time for a child with myopia to receive treatment to mitigate progression; or identify individuals at risk of developing myopia-related pathology that can lead to visual impairment," said Associate Professor Marcus Ang, Advisor, Myopia Centre, SNEC.
In order to establish longer term results, the researchers will be embarking on longitudinal studies among two cohorts of children (six to eight years old, and 11 to 13 years old) for two years.
Research
Download the original article
|||
Tags:
SingHealth Duke-NUS Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences Academic Clinical Programme; Public; ; Myopia (Short-sightedness or Near-sightedness); Press Release; ; Singapore National Eye Centre; ; ; ; ; ; ; Research
In The News
View all
Announcements
Sengkang General Hospital Introduces Photon-Counting CT Scanner, Advancing Diagnostic Capabilities for Enhanced Patient Care
23 Apr 2025
Awards
SKH Nurse honoured for contributions
25 Nov 2024
Patient Care
SKH Doctor on lung cancer
06 Nov 2024
Patient Care
SKH Doctors on prostate and testicular cancer
05 Nov 2024
News Across SingHealth
View all
Announcements
Sengkang General Hospital Introduces Photon-Counting CT Scanner, Advancing Diagnostic Capabilities for Enhanced Patient Care
23 Apr 2025
Awards
SKH Nurse honoured for contributions
25 Nov 2024
Last updated on
×
SUBSCRIBE VIA EMAIL
Subscribe to our mailing list to get the updates to your email inbox...
Find a Doctor
Condition & Treatment
Home
Appointment
E-services