- “Alleye” is a mobile medical software application indicated for the detection and characterization of metamorphopsia, a visual distortion in patients with Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD) and in patients with Diabetic Retinopathy
- Diabetic Macular Edema is the most common diabetic eye diseases and the leading cause of irreversible blindness in working age population *
Beirut, August 2, 2021 – In collaboration with top eye care and related macular disorder management hospitals, Bayer Middle East announced the launch of Alleye Home Monitoring Sponsorship Program to support Lebanon’s ophthalmologists in the new era of Diabetic Macular Edema (DME) and Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD) patient virtual care.
The sponsorship program enables ophthalmologists of partnering hospitals across Lebanon to keep a regular track on the vision of their retinal disease patients. It will also help limit deterioration linked to diabetes and aging as well as reduce in-person ophthalmology visits.
“Alleye” is a mobile medical software application that helps detect and characterize metamorphopsia, a visual distortion in patients with Diabetic Retinopathy and Age-related Macular Degeneration.1 According to a recent study,”Alleye” can detect the progression in macular disease with an accuracy of 93.8% and a false alarm rate of only 6.1%, which means that false alarm rates for the detection of progression in macular disease via home monitoring is low.2
The Bayer-sponsored home monitoring solution will help participating hospital ophthalmologists observe their retinal disease patients’ conditions, disease progress and allocated needs more closely than ever before. A study has shown that “Alleye” allows both patients and physicians to detect eye disease early 3 because when home monitoring tests came back positive in the course of the study, 80% of patients showed signs of anatomical progression in their next follow-up visit.2
The COVID-19 pandemic caused massive disruptions in the healthcare industry, requiring professionals to re-examine the traditional face-to-face patient-physician care model. It also highlighted the need to incorporate new models of digital healthcare solutions in ophthalmology, such as home-monitoring, to meet this challenge.4 With the Alleye Home Monitoring Sponsorship Program, hospitals can reduce patient clinic visits and monitor their eye health and disease state remotely with patients staying at home. Patients will be able to send their vision scan results to the ophthalmologist responsible for their case who would, in turn, analyze their results to determine if the patient’s condition is stable or has improved or progressed in a way that requires intervention.
Diabetic Retinopathy is the leading cause of preventable blindness in working adults.5 A study has shown that out of 484 patients with Type 2 diabetes involved in a study at a hospital in Lebanon, 24.6% suffered from Diabetic Retinopathy and diabetics with a more severe Diabetic Retinopathy condition presented late to ophthalmology clinics.6 Diabetes as a disease is estimated to become even more prevalent than it is in the region during the next two decades. The International Diabetes Federation Diabetes Atlas of 2017 showed that Diabetes cases in the Middle East are set to rise by 110% by 2045.7
In regards to how the Bayer Alleye Home Monitoring Sponsorship Program could help patients live a better life and aid ophthalmologists in detecting early disease, Dr. Ziad Bashshur, Professor of Ophthalmology at the American University of Beirut said that “using ‘Alleye’ will give patients peace of mind since, one, they will be checking themselves in an objective well-structured way and, two, they will not need to come as frequently because we can space apart the visits making them less likely to have unpleasant surprises since they check themselves regularly at home. ‘Alleye’ is a tool that may help us detect early disease before the patient is truly aware of it, preventing these unpleasant surprises from happening. It will prompt the patient to seek intervention earlier which will imply a better outcome.”
“We are enthusiastic about our collaboration with notable eye care institutions in Lebanon that will no doubt help us reach thousands of patients and change their lives to the better. Our Alleye Home Monitoring Sponsorship Program underlines our commitment to delivering innovative solutions that help address the unmet needs of some of the most challenging and wide-spread eye diseases like Diabetic Retinopathy and Age-related Macular Degeneration,” said Samer Al Faqih, Managing Director, Bayer Levant and Commercial Area Head, Jordan and Lebanon.
About Diabetes and eye health If one is not able to keep blood sugar levels at check, high blood sugar can damage the capillaries in the retina, causing Diabetic Retinopathy. If blood sugar levels stay high, Diabetic Retinopathy will keep getting worse and more blood vessels will grow on the retina which are weak and can break open very easily, causing blood or fluid to leak into the middle part of the eye in front of the retina and altering vision.8
About Diabetic Macular Edema (DME)
The leakage of fluid into the retina causes swelling of the surrounding tissue (edema) including the macula, resulting in Diabetic Macular Edema which is the most common cause of vision loss in people with diabetic retinopathy.9 Diabetic Macular Edema is caused by a complication of diabetes called Diabetic Retinopathy which is a complication of diabetes that may be unnoticeable in its early stages, but affects a third of diabetic patients and is a primary cause of vision loss in adults between the ages of 20 and 65.10
About Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD)
An estimated 196 million people globally live with Age-related Macular Degeneration, 10.4 million of whom (5.3%) have moderate or severe distance vision impairment or blindness from more severe forms of the condition.11
Age-related Macular Degeneration is the leading cause of loss of vision in people over 65 years of age. It is characterized by degeneration of the macula, the area of the retina responsible for central vision. Risk factors for Age-related Macular Degeneration include advancing age, family history of Age-related Macular Degeneration and cardiovascular risk factors such as hypertension and cigarette smoking. Age-related Macular Degeneration can be divided into two categories: nonexudative (or “dry”) Age-related Macular Degeneration and exudative (or “wet”) Age-related Macular Degeneration.12
About Ophthalmology at Bayer
Bayer is helping reduce the number of people impacted globally by visual impairment through innovative products and research. Retinal disease represents a major global health burden, especially as the world population ages and grows. Experts estimate that, globally, at least 2.2 billion people have a near or distance vision impairment and that in at least 1 billion – or almost half – of these cases, vision impairment could have been prevented or has yet to be addressed.13
About Bayer
Bayer is a global enterprise with core competencies in the life science fields of health care and nutrition. Its products and services are designed to help people and planet thrive by supporting efforts to master the major challenges presented by a growing and aging global population. Bayer is committed to driving sustainable development and generating a positive impact with its businesses.
At the same time, Bayer aims to create value through innovation and growth. The Bayer brand stands for trust, reliability and quality throughout the world. In fiscal 2020, Bayer employed around 100,000 people and had sales of 41.4 billion Euros. R&D expenses before special items amounted to 4.9 billion euros.
For more information, go to www.bayer.com
References
- Alleye Indications for Use, Department of Health and Human Services, Food and Drug Administration, Form FDA 3881
- False alarms and the positive predictive value of smartphone-based hyperacuity home monitoring for the progression of macular disease: a prospective cohort study, Livia Faes et al., The Royal College of Ophthalmologists, 2020, page 1 and 6: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41433-020-01356-2.pdf [Last Accessed on 29.4.2021]
- Predicting the progression of macular diseases, Alleye.io, 2021: https://alleye.io/news/predicting-the-progression-of-macular-diseases [Last Accessed on 5.5.2021]
- Digital health during Covid-19: lessons from operationalising new models of care in opththalmology, Dinesh V Gunasekeran et al.,The Lancet, 2021, page e124: https://www.thelancet.com/action/showPdf?pii=S2589-7500%2820%2930287-9 [Last accessed on 5.5.2021]
- Diabetic Retinopathy, Ning Cheung, MD, The Lancet, 2010, page 124: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(09)62124-3/fulltext [Last accessed on 5.5.2021]
- Severity of diabetic retinopathy at the first ophthalmological examination in the Lebanese population, Walid Hard et al.,Therapeutic Advances in Ophthalmology, 2018: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/2515841418791950 [Last Accessed on 21.04.21]
- IDF Diabetes Atlas, Eighth edition, 2017, Chapter 4, page 66: https://diabetesatlas.org/upload/resources/previous/files/8/IDF_DA_8e-EN-final.pdf [Last accessed 5.5.2021]
- Diabetic Retinopathy: Topic overview, Cham.org, 2020 https://www.cham.org/HealthwiseArticle.aspx?id=tf1308 [Last Accessed 10.5.2021]
- Macular Edema, National Institutes of Health – National Eye Institute, 2019, https://www.nei.nih.gov/learn-about-eye-health/eye-conditions-and-diseases/macular-edema [Last Accessed 10.5.2021]
- Clinical Practice Recommendations for Managing Diabetic Macular Edema, International Diabetes Federation, 2019, Foreword, page 4: https://www.idf.org/index.php?option=com_attachments&task=download&id=2044:CPR-Managing-Diabetic-Macular-Edema-FINAL [Last Accessed 6.5.2021]
- World Report on Vision,The World Health Organization, 2019, Chapter 1, page 4: https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789241516570 [Last Accessed on 20.04.21]
- Common Causes of Vision Loss in Elderly Patients, David A. Quillen, M.D., American Family Physician, 1999, page1-2: https://www.aafp.org/afp/1999/0701/p99.html [Last Accesed 6.5.2021]
- Blindness and vision impairment, The World Health Organization, who.int, 2021: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/blindness-and-visual-impairment [Last Accessed 6.5.2021]
approval code (MA-M_AFL-LB-0010-1)