UCB Diabetes Study

Our Research Program

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This is a photo of the blood vessels at the back of a healthy eye.

Our study involves a single visit that will last approximately 2 1/2 hours. During this visit the patient will receive a dilated eye health screening.

In order to examine the health of the eye, we will take pictures of the blood vessels at the back of the eye. With these pictures, we can observe the condition of the blood vessels that are responsible for providing oxygen to the eye.

We use a new test that can tell us how healthy the tissue is at the back of the eye. This test involves wearing a special contact lens and watching a flashing display like the one pictured below.

A participant viewing our stimulus.		The display used in our study. (Click for animation)

Response of a healthy eye to our test.

Response of the eye in an adult with diabetic problems.

This test maps the health of the eye and locates areas that are affected by diabetes. To the right is the map of a healthy eye and a map of an adult eye with diabetic problems.

We perform several other tests to evaluate a participant's vision. Eye chart tests are used to measure visual acuity and contrast sensitivity. We also determine if there is any swelling in the eye associated with leaking blood vessels.

This study is funded by a grant from the National Eye Institute of the National Institutes of Health.

Interested in becoming a participant?

Want to learn more about the effect of diabetes on vision?