Zainab Alrikabi Zainab.alrikabi@gcu.ac.uk
The research is being carried out at the Department of Life Sciences, Glasgow Caledonian University by post graduate researcher Zainab Alrikabi, supervised by Dr Lorraine Cameron, Dr Uma Shahani and Dr Andrew Logan.
The aim of this study is to further our understanding of how blood flow in the eye gets affected by the disease process of glaucoma. Your participation will help to build a database of blood flow in the eyes and brains of glaucoma patients. To investigate this we will use different non invasive techniques in participants with and without glaucoma:
1) Blood flow in the eye will be measured with a device that images the retina called Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT-A (DRI OCT Triton, Topcon, Itabashi, Japan). OCTA is a useful tool to assess blood flow at the back of the eye, especially in glaucoma patients where the blood flow to the optic nerve in the eye can be reduced.
2) Tiny electrical responses of the back of your eye (retina) will be measured while looking at some flashing lights and patterns using a device called RETeval™. This is a portable, handheld, non invasive device measures how well layers of the back of your eye are working that can be impaired in individuals with glaucoma.
You have been invited to take part in this study as you are either a patient diagnosed with glaucoma or an age-matched control participant.
After talking you through the study and this information sheet, it is up to you to decide. You will be asked to sign a consent form to show you have agreed to take part. However, you are free to withdraw at any time, without giving reason.
Before your participation, you will be asked to complete the consent form either electronically or on paper (depends on your preference) and hand it send it to a member of the research team or post it to the address at the bottom of this form. Please find a consent form attached. If you should be willing to take part, we would like to invite you to the GCU Vision Centre, where the measurements would be taken. We might ask you to return for a second visit after 9-12 months, voluntarily, to repeat these tests for us to investigate these measurements over time.
The measurements will be taken over one visit of around 1 hour in duration. During which, we will measure your vision with an eye test letter chart and assess your peripheral vision using a visual field machine (Humphrey Visual Field Analyzer). We will then take retinal images of each eye using the Triton OCT-A machine which is completely non-invasive. You will be asked to place your chin on the chin rest of the machine and to keep your eyes open for a few seconds for each image. We will also measure your eye pressures using an iCare tonometer. You will stare straight into the instrument ahead and feel a slight puff of air in each eye. This is an important measurement as glaucoma is often associated with an increase in eye pressure. We will then measure tiny electrical responses at the back of your eyes (retina) using a hand-held, portable device (RETeval™). Electrical signals are detected using stick-on sensor strips that are placed just below your lower eye lids. If the sensor does not stick well, an alcohol skin wipe may be used to clean the area for the strip to be applied. You will then look into the device at a series of lights with one eye at a time while the other eye will be closed. This will take a maximum of 15-20 minutes.
We are looking for volunteers with healthy eyes and volunteers with glaucoma. Our project is studying blood flow in the eyes and looking at this in diseases that cause impaired vision.
HOW?
1) 1 hour visit to GCU Vision Centre
2) All of our tests are non-invasive
3) Simple eye measurements will be conducted as well as scans to image blood vessels at the back of your eyes
