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On today’s World Sight Day, Prof. Dr. Nicole Eter and Dr. Tobias Brix share their experiences and insights into the progress of the “EyeMatics” project (Module 3) within the Medical Informatics Initiative (MII).
Professor Eter, what is the current state of ophthalmology in Germany? How can eye diseases be effectively treated?
“Each year, around 10,000 people in Germany lose their sight – often due to wet/neovascular age-related macular degeneration (AMD) or diabetic retinopathy. An important therapeutic option is intravitreal operative medication application (IVOM), in which medication is injected directly into the vitreous body of the eye.”
And what role does IVOM therapy play in preserving vision over the long term?
“For both wet/neovascular AMD and diabetic retinopathy, IVOM therapy plays a crucial role. Its goal is to slow disease progression and maintain or improve patients’ visual acuity. The challenge is that real-world outcomes often differ significantly from those seen in clinical trials – and there is a lack of data from everyday hospital care to understand this discrepancy.”
Dr. Brix, how does EyeMatics fit into the overall strategy of the MII?
“As part of the MII, the project addresses a central challenge: using interoperable medical informatics to make harmonized, cross-site clinical data from patients receiving IVOM therapy accessible for scientific analysis. EyeMatics is therefore funded by the BMFTR with around €7 million until 2028.”
Are there already initial results or current steps you can share?
Prof. Eter: “Together with our partner clinics – the university hospitals of Aachen, Greifswald, Münster, and Tübingen, as well as additional sites in Mainz, Chemnitz, Leipzig, and Dresden – we have created a harmonized core dataset for the project in its first version.”
Dr. Brix: “The next step is exporting the required medical data from various care systems and making them available for research. In addition, a questionnaire has been developed for IVOM patients to routinely capture Patient-Reported Outcomes (PROs), helping us better understand patients’ subjective experiences.”
Will AI methods play a role in analyzing IVOM data in the future?
Prof. Eter: “Absolutely! In the next phase of the project, the focus will include the use of Artificial Intelligence methods to identify innovative biomarkers for precision medicine.”
Dr. Brix: “We are also developing a clinical dashboard that connects previously isolated systems and visualizes newly identified AI-based biomarkers across all participating sites.”
What is your vision for ophthalmology after the project concludes in 2028?
Prof. Eter: “With EyeMatics, we are creating essential structures for multicenter analysis of real-world data in ophthalmology and for integrating the patient perspective more strongly into research and care.”
We thank you for this conversation and wish you continued success with this exciting and significant project!
The project is supported by the expertise of the German Ophthalmological Society (DOG) and the ongoing collaboration of the patient advocacy group Pro Retina Germany e.V.
Funded by: Federal Ministry for Research, Technology and Space (BMFTR)
