Age-Related Macular DegenerationNCT05913063
Direct Discrimination of Quantum States by the Human Eye
A study testing Structured Light Imaging Microscopy in people with Age-Related Macular Degeneration, run by Centre for Eye and Vision Research at 1 site in Hong Kong.
Trial summary
Age-related macular degeneration (AMD), is a debilitating eye disease that causes a loss of central vision. The prevalence of AMD increases exponentially with age and causes a significant impact through both medical expenses and the social and economic costs associated with vision loss. Read more about this study
- Who is it for?
- Ages 18 years and olderHealthy volunteers can take part
- Conditions the study is for
- Age-Related Macular Degeneration
- What is being tested?
- Structured Light Imaging Microscopy
- Type of treatment
- Medical device
- Could I receive a placebo?
- No, everyone receives an active treatment
- How many people
- 50 participants
- Where
- 1 siteHong Kong
- Study dates
- 26 Jun 2023to 1 Oct 2029
- Phase
- Interventional
- Are there results?
- Not yet: the study is under way
Key requirements
Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.
- Ages 18 years and older
- All sexes
- Healthy volunteers accepted
- Adult, Older adult
Who may be able to join
- Participants who are clinically diagnosed with a vision disease affecting their macula
- Older adults who are matched for age.
- Participants who are clinically diagnosed with glaucoma
- Participants who have normal vision.
- One aged-matched control with normal vision will be recruited for each of the diagnosed groups (born in the same year).
Who cannot join
- Participants with any additional eye diagnosis or condition
Trial locations and contacts
1 site in 1 country. Contact the study team or a site near you to ask about taking part.
Hong Kong1 site, 1 recruiting
- Recruiting
Centre for Eye and Vision Research Limited
Hong Kong, Guangdong, 00000
Peter CK Pang, PhD, +852-2766-7927, csm@cevr.hk
Taranjit Singh, BSc
About this study
Official title: Direct Discrimination of Quantum States by the Human Eye With Macular Degeneration
Age-related macular degeneration (AMD), is a debilitating eye disease that causes a loss of central vision. The prevalence of AMD increases exponentially with age and causes a significant impact through both medical expenses and the social and economic costs associated with vision loss. AMD is the global leading cause of blindness among people over the age of 60. Detection of this eye disease at early stages coupled with prompt treatment can prevent vision loss; however, modern diagnosis methods are ineffective at diagnosis of AMD before vision loss occurs. While a range of available treatment options has been effective at slowing vision loss due to AMD, no treatment exists which can recover lost vision. The investigators propose to apply tools developed in quantum information science to diagnose AMD before vision has been affected, drastically improving health outcomes for patients with AMD.
Read the detailed description
There has been tremendous progress in generating and detecting structured light which possesses advantageous propagation characteristics such as quantized orbital angular momentum (OAM), non-diffraction, and self-healing. These special beams have found applications in microscopy, encoding and multiplexing of communications, and manipulation of matter. Here the investigators bring the structured light toolbox to vision sciences for the first time and expand the space of possible stimuli.
A healthy macula possesses azimuthally ordered dichroic fibres that act as a radial polarization filter, enabling a typical person to perceive linearly polarized light through the entoptic phenomena known as Haidinger's brushes. Despite significant interest in the application of this phenomenon to the detection of age-related macular degeneration, no device has currently seen widespread adoption in a clinical environment. This is due to the difficulty in observing Haidinger's brush, the imprecise measurements that this test can extract, and the difficulty in instructing patients during these tests.
Leveraging the quantum-inspired toolbox developed in the field of structured light, the investigators can project polarization-coupled OAM states of light directly on a person's retina. This enables the investigators to create arbitrary entoptic patterns in a person's vision based on the structure and chemical composition of their subjective macula, and the investigators have the opportunity to develop a litany of novel diagnostic tests to characterize and quantify the health of the macula.
- Conditions
- Age-Related Macular Degeneration
- Being tested
- Structured Light Imaging Microscopy
- Keywords
- Age-Related Macular Degeneration, Structured Light, Orbital Angular Momentum, Polarization Perception, Retinal Imaging
- Medical subject headings
- Macular Degeneration
What participants receive
What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.
Structured Light Imaging MicroscopyDevice
Conducting the psychophysical task on the perception of OAM-coupled polarized light created using the experimental setup - Structured Light Imaging Microscopy (SLIM). Four types of vortex orbital angular momentum, differing by the number of fringes l=5;10; 15;20, will be presented for 0.5s per trial during which an azimuthally varying entoptic profile rotated clockwise or counterclockwise. A circular mask with a varying radius will be placed at fixation, thus the task will be performed at varying eccentricities. Circular obstruction of the area will be achieved due to the high refresh-rate structured light modulator. The threshold mask size will be changed by a 2up/1down staircase method (71% accuracy for the estimation of mask size).
| Study group | Role | What they receive |
|---|---|---|
| Participants with Age-Related Macular Degeneration | Experimental | Conducting the psychophysical task on the perception of OAM-coupled polarized light Receives: Device: Structured Light Imaging Microscopy |
What is being measured
The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.
Perception of the structured light
Assessment of the participant's ability to see the entoptic phenomena created using the structured light (SL) - orbital angular momentum (OAM) coupled polarized light. Various SL vortex and radial patterns will be projected using the custom research-based laser optical setup
Measured: Approximately 10 minutes, Screening and Training day (Session 1)
Radius of the radial retinal polarizer
Calculation of the radius of the central obstruction. From a total of 14 reversal trials, the six last values of the mask size will be used for the calculation of the threshold mask size mean (r mean). The standard deviation will be computed from the variance of these last six trials
Measured: Approximately 30 minutes, on the completion of the study (Session 6)
Secondary outcomes (5)
Thickness of retina and retinal layers
Measurement of the retinal layers' thickness and total neuroretina
Measured: Approximately 10 minutes, Screening and Training day (Session 1)
Contrast sensitivity
Computer-based measurement of contrast sensitivity
Measured: Approximately 5 minutes, Screening and Training day (Session 1)
Fundus photography
Imaging the retina using white light. The diameter of the optic nerve head will be measured in order to calculate the degree/pixel ratio for each participant
Measured: Approximately 5 minutes, Screening and Training day (Session 1)
Ocular biometry measurement
Measurement of the central corneal thickness and axial eye length
Measured: Approximately 5 minutes, Screening and Training day (Session 1)
Macular pigment optical density measurement
Computer-based measurement of the macular pigment optical density (MPOD)
Measured: Approximately 10 minutes, Screening and Training day (Sessions 1 and 2)
Timeline
From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.
- First posted22 Jun 2023
- Study start26 Jun 2023
- Primary completion1 Jul 2029 (estimated)
- Study completion1 Oct 2029 (estimated)
Resources
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govThe registry entry this page is built from, with its full change history.
- Other trials for Age-Related Macular DegenerationStudies of the same condition, open and under way.
- What the trial phases meanHow a treatment moves from first tests in people to approval.
More details
For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.
Study design
- Study type
- Interventional
- Phase
- Phase N/A
- Primary purpose
- Diagnosis
- Allocation
- Not applicable
- Intervention model
- Single group
- Model description
- Within-subject, measuring the threshold SL-based entoptic phenomenon circular obstruction size of the radial retinal polarizer
- Masking
- None (open label)
- Enrolment
- 50 participants (estimated)
Sponsor and investigators
- Lead sponsor
- Centre for Eye and Vision Research
- Sponsor type
- University, hospital or other
- Collaborators
- University of Waterloo, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
- Responsible party
- Sponsor
- Investigators
- Benjamin Thompson, PhD, Principal investigator, Centre for Eye and Vision ResearchMukhit Kulmaganbetov, MD, PhD, Study director, Centre for Eye and Vision Research
IDs, dates and publications
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT05913063
- Sponsor's protocol ID
- SLIM
- Status last verified
- Mar 2026
- First submitted
- 31 May 2023
- Last updated
- 18 Mar 2026
- Results posted
- No
- Data monitoring committee
- No
- FDA-regulated drug
- No
- FDA-regulated device
- No
- Individual data sharing
- Yes: Anonymized data will be shared on request
Study at a glance
From the registry record, last updated by the sponsor on 18 Mar 2026. Recruitment status is as the sponsor reported it: confirm with the study team.
- Official title
- Direct Discrimination of Quantum States by the Human Eye With Macular Degeneration
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT05913063
- Acronym / sponsor ID
- SLIM
- Conditions
- Age-Related Macular Degeneration
- Keywords
- Age-Related Macular Degeneration, Structured Light, Orbital Angular Momentum, Polarization Perception, Retinal Imaging
- Study type
- Interventional
- Recruitment status
- Recruiting
- Enrolment
- 50 participants (estimated)
- Lead sponsor
- Centre for Eye and Vision ResearchUniversity, hospital or other
- Collaborators
- University of Waterloo, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
- Study start
- 26 Jun 2023 (actual)
- Primary completion
- 1 Jul 2029 (estimated)
- Study completion
- 1 Oct 2029 (estimated)
- First posted
- 22 Jun 2023 (actual)
- Results
- Not posted in the source record
Clinical summary
The research question as the sponsor registered it. This describes what the study plans to test, not what it found.
Age-related macular degeneration (AMD), is a debilitating eye disease that causes a loss of central vision. The prevalence of AMD increases exponentially with age and causes a significant impact through both medical expenses and the social and economic costs associated with vision loss. AMD is the global leading cause of blindness among people over the age of 60. Detection of this eye disease at early stages coupled with prompt treatment can prevent vision loss; however, modern diagnosis methods are ineffective at diagnosis of AMD before vision loss occurs. While a range of available treatment options has been effective at slowing vision loss due to AMD, no treatment exists which can recover lost vision. The investigators propose to apply tools developed in quantum information science to diagnose AMD before vision has been affected, drastically improving health outcomes for patients with AMD.
Detailed description
There has been tremendous progress in generating and detecting structured light which possesses advantageous propagation characteristics such as quantized orbital angular momentum (OAM), non-diffraction, and self-healing. These special beams have found applications in microscopy, encoding and multiplexing of communications, and manipulation of matter. Here the investigators bring the structured light toolbox to vision sciences for the first time and expand the space of possible stimuli.
A healthy macula possesses azimuthally ordered dichroic fibres that act as a radial polarization filter, enabling a typical person to perceive linearly polarized light through the entoptic phenomena known as Haidinger's brushes. Despite significant interest in the application of this phenomenon to the detection of age-related macular degeneration, no device has currently seen widespread adoption in a clinical environment. This is due to the difficulty in observing Haidinger's brush, the imprecise measurements that this test can extract, and the difficulty in instructing patients during these tests.
Leveraging the quantum-inspired toolbox developed in the field of structured light, the investigators can project polarization-coupled OAM states of light directly on a person's retina. This enables the investigators to create arbitrary entoptic patterns in a person's vision based on the structure and chemical composition of their subjective macula, and the investigators have the opportunity to develop a litany of novel diagnostic tests to characterize and quantify the health of the macula.
Study design
- Primary purpose
- Diagnosis
- Allocation
- Not applicable
- Intervention model
- Single group
- Masking
- None (open label)
- Number of arms
- 1
- Model description
- Within-subject, measuring the threshold SL-based entoptic phenomenon circular obstruction size of the radial retinal polarizer
| Arm | Type | Receives |
|---|---|---|
| Participants with Age-Related Macular Degeneration | Experimental | Device: Structured Light Imaging MicroscopyConducting the psychophysical task on the perception of OAM-coupled polarized light |
Who may qualify
- Ages
- 18 years and older
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Accepted
- Age groups
- Adult, Older adult
Key inclusion criteria (5 listed)
- Participants who are clinically diagnosed with a vision disease affecting their macula
- Older adults who are matched for age.
- Participants who are clinically diagnosed with glaucoma
- Participants who have normal vision.
- One aged-matched control with normal vision will be recruited for each of the diagnosed groups (born in the same year).
Key exclusion criteria (1 listed)
- Participants with any additional eye diagnosis or condition
Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening; this overview does not establish that a patient qualifies. Full inclusion and exclusion criteria.
Interventions
| Intervention | Type | Arms |
|---|---|---|
| Structured Light Imaging MicroscopyConducting the psychophysical task on the perception of OAM-coupled polarized light created using the experimental setup - Structured Light Imaging Microscopy (SLIM). Four types of vortex orbital angular momentum, differing by the number of fringes l=5;10; 15;20, will be presented for 0.5s per trial during which an azimuthally varying entoptic profile rotated clockwise or counterclockwise. A circular mask with a varying radius will be placed at fixation, thus the task will be performed at varying eccentricities. Circular obstruction of the area will be achieved due to the high refresh-rate structured light modulator. The threshold mask size will be changed by a 2up/1down staircase method (71% accuracy for the estimation of mask size). | Device | Participants with Age-Related Macular Degeneration |
Primary outcome
Perception of the structured light
Time frame: Approximately 10 minutes, Screening and Training day (Session 1)
Assessment of the participant's ability to see the entoptic phenomena created using the structured light (SL) - orbital angular momentum (OAM) coupled polarized light. Various SL vortex and radial patterns will be projected using the custom research-based laser optical setup
Radius of the radial retinal polarizer
Time frame: Approximately 30 minutes, on the completion of the study (Session 6)
Calculation of the radius of the central obstruction. From a total of 14 reversal trials, the six last values of the mask size will be used for the calculation of the threshold mask size mean (r mean). The standard deviation will be computed from the variance of these last six trials
5 secondary outcomes
Thickness of retina and retinal layers
Time frame: Approximately 10 minutes, Screening and Training day (Session 1)
Contrast sensitivity
Time frame: Approximately 5 minutes, Screening and Training day (Session 1)
Fundus photography
Time frame: Approximately 5 minutes, Screening and Training day (Session 1)
Ocular biometry measurement
Time frame: Approximately 5 minutes, Screening and Training day (Session 1)
Macular pigment optical density measurement
Time frame: Approximately 10 minutes, Screening and Training day (Sessions 1 and 2)
Results and safety
This study is still under way. Results are not available in the source record yet.
Research links
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govLast updated by the sponsor 18 Mar 2026.
- Individual participant dataSharing planned: Yes. Anonymized data will be shared on request
Related trials for Age-Related Macular Degeneration
RecruitingPhase 3
A Study of 36-Week Refill Exchanges of Port Delivery System (PDS) With Ranibizumab in nAMD
Neovascular Age-related Macular Degeneration
RecruitingObservational study
Pivotal Trial of an Automated AI-based System for Early Diagnosis and Prediction of Late Age-related Macular Degeneration
Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD)
Active, not recruitingObservational study
Real World Evidence in China: Faricimab Use in Diabetic Macular Edema, Retinal Vein Occlusion, and Neovascular Age-Related Macular Degeneration (The Farseeing Study)
Diabetic Macular Edema, Neovascular Age-related Macular Degeneration
Active, not recruitingObservational study
Retinal Pigment Epithelium Safety Study For Patients In B4711001
Age Related Macular Degeneration
RecruitingObservational study
National Ophthalmic Genotyping and Phenotyping Network (eyeGENE (Registered Trademark)), Stage 3 - Expansion of DNA and Data Repositories for Rare Inherited Ophthalmic Diseases
Inherited Ophthalmic Diseases, Hypopigmentation Disorder
Referral and contact
AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals. Contact the study team or a site listed below; they decide who can take part.
Benjamin Thompson, PhD principal investigator
Centre for Eye and Vision Research
Mukhit Kulmaganbetov, MD, PhD study director
Centre for Eye and Vision Research
1 site in 1 country: see every site and its status.
Questions about this trial
What is this clinical trial studying?
A study testing Structured Light Imaging Microscopy in people with Age-Related Macular Degeneration, run by Centre for Eye and Vision Research at 1 site in Hong Kong.
The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.
Who may be eligible to take part?
The sponsor lists 5 inclusion and 1 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.
Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?
The record says: looking for participants now, as of the sponsor's last update on 18 Mar 2026. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.
Where is the study taking place?
The record lists 1 site in Hong Kong. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.
What are the possible benefits and risks?
They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.
Are results available for this study?
This study is still under way. Results are not available in the source record yet.
How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?
Contact Benjamin Thompson, PhD (+852-3169-9631, ben.thompson@cevr.hk), or a site near the patient. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.
What does the primary outcome measure?
Perception of the structured light (time frame: Approximately 10 minutes, Screening and Training day (Session 1)). The study lists 2 primary outcomes in all. It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.
Where can I read the original study information?
Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?
No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.
How often is this information updated?
AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 18 Mar 2026.