Horizon 2020 – Information and Communication Technologies Call / EU

Project title: IMaging-based CUSTOMised EYE diagnostics

Prevalent eye diseases, such as glaucoma, keratoconus, refractive errors, cataract, myopia and presbyopia, affect millions worldwide, and only in Europe represent over €20 billion annual cost to society. Current screening tools rely on morphological biomarkers based on corneal shape and optics, yet differences in biomechanical properties underlie and precede disease development (i.e. keratoconus, ectasia risk) or affect standard markers (i.e. intraocular pressure in glaucoma). IMCUSTOMEYE will develop new diagnostic paradigms for these vision-threatening conditions, with a direct impact on their treatment. We will deploy new compact, easy-to-use, label-free non-invasive imaging-based instrumentation for direct measurement of corneal biomechanical properties in patients. The technology is based on imaging concepts brought from other disciplines into ophthalmology and, for the first time, applied in patients in vivo. Dynamic corneal imaging based on air-puff stimulated Optical Coherence Tomography corneal deformation and acoustic stimulated phase sensitive and nanosensitive Optical Coherence Tomography corneal vibrography will be coupled to corneal mechanical models to estimate corneal elasticity and viscoelasticity parameters (isolated from other factors). Corneal biomechanical properties will be used as biomarkers for in-depth diagnosis of keratoconus and ectasia risk, and to provide accurate estimates of intraocular pressure in glaucoma diagnosis. Clinical validations in ophthalmology hospitals will demonstrate the diagnostic and treatment predictive potential of the customised optical and biomechanical eye models from patient-specific enabled by the new technology. IMCUSTOMEYE will contribute to more effective, customised treatment of eye diseases and to reinforce industrial leadership in the area of diagnostic imaging in ophthalmology.