■ A new study from City University of London suggests that home monitoring of glaucoma can be an effective tool. The research involved 20 glaucoma patients from across England and Wales who were provided with a prototype, tablet-based eye test, called Eyecatcher, for 6 months. Using the device, they were asked to run the home glaucoma eye test themselves, testing each of their eyes once a month.

Similar to conventional eye tests for glaucoma, patients looked at a central cross presented on the device and pressed a button when they saw a flash of light, which appeared at different locations and was of variable intensity. The computer’s front-facing camera also recorded them during the test, and artificial intelligence was used to perform facial recognition, head tracking, and eye tracking to ensure people performed the test correctly. Accuracy was assessed by comparing measurements made at home to conventional gold standard assessments performed in the clinic at both the start and end of the study. Adherence was quantified as the percentage of tests completed. The study found that 98% of home tests were completed successfully, and that the data from the home-monitoring tests were in strong agreement with the gold standard clinical assessments.