Physician in the Loop
For youSign inAsk
Ophthalmology ·

AI screening raises retinopathy referral attendance in Tanzanian trial; PRIMA implant holds gains at three years; graft-free tubes studied

A phoropter hanging from a short arm, its wide housing set with rows of small dials around two round lens openings, one rimmed in amber.
THE SHORT READ

A randomized trial in The Lancet Global Health found that AI diabetic retinopathy screening with an immediate result and face-to-face counseling raised referral clinic attendance to 35.9% from 18.2% at 24 Tanzanian hospitals. Three-year PRIMA retinal implant data for geographic atrophy and a pediatric series of graft-free tube shunts followed.

THE DETAILS
  • AI Oct 12, 2026
    AI screening with point-of-screening results raises referral attendance to 35.9% from 18.2% in Tanzanian trial
    In a randomized trial at 24 hospitals in Tanzania's Kilimanjaro and Arusha regions, published in The Lancet Global Health, 2,378 people with diabetes received AI-supported diabetic retinopathy screening with a point-of-screening result and face-to-face counseling or standard screening with deferred human grading and telephone counseling. Among 904 with true referable retinopathy, 35.9% in the AI group attended the referral clinic within eight weeks versus 18.2% with standard care, the primary end point, a difference of 17.7 percentage points (95% CI 12.0 to 23.4). The research came from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre.
    Sources: The Lancet Global Health, PubMed, LSHTM
  • Technology Oct 11, 2026
    PRIMA retinal implant holds vision gains at three years in geographic atrophy, with 14 of 18 patients up two lines
    Three-year data from the PRIMAvera trial of Science Corporation's PRIMA retinal implant for geographic atrophy, presented Oct. 11 at the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) annual meeting, showed vision with the device averaging about 20/120, from roughly 20/460 at baseline, according to the AAO. Of 18 patients evaluable for efficacy, 14 (78%) improved by at least two lines, and three patients each had one serious eye-related adverse event between months 13 and 36. The trial had no control group, and PRIMA has not been approved in the U.S.; it received the CE mark in July.
    Source: American Academy of Ophthalmology
  • Technology Oct 12, 2026
    Graft-free scleral-tunneled tube shunts in 40 pediatric eyes show no exposures over a mean 36.7 months
    University of Minnesota surgeons reported in Ophthalmology Glaucoma on scleral-tunneled, graft-free glaucoma drainage device implantation in 40 eyes of 32 children, which they called the first U.S. report of the technique in children. Mean intraocular pressure fell from 34.5 mm Hg on 3.8 medications to 15.75 mm Hg at six months and was 17.78 mm Hg on 0.98 medications at final follow-up. No tube exposures or erosions occurred over a mean 36.7 months, and Kaplan-Meier clinical success was 93%. The authors said prospective comparisons with patch-graft techniques are needed.
    Sources: Ophthalmology Glaucoma, PubMed

The weekly innovation roundup for ophthalmology, published every Sunday for the week before; every item links to its sources. Latest ophthalmology news · All specialties