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WesternU tests cutting-edge optometric equipment

by Rodney Tanaka

February 3, 2012

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Western University of Health Sciences is completing an FDA-approved clinical trial of a cutting-edge device designed to detect eye diseases.

College of Optometry Associate Professor Pinakin Gunvant Davey, OD, PhD, FAAO, is leading a clinical study of iVue, an optical coherence tomography (OCT) device developed by Optovue that measures the thickness of the eye to detect retinal diseases, corneal pathology and glaucoma.

WesternU is one of six clinical sites conducting trials internationally on about 500 people.

“We’re looking at healthy subjects to form the normative database which will help the machine eventually identify individuals with disease,” Davey said.

Davey is the principal investigator of the study, and is receiving assistance from College of Optometry faculty members Dorcas Tsang, OD, and Jasmine Yumori, OD, and three student research associates who are helping with data collection.

Participating in a clinical trial yields tremendous benefits, Davey said.

“You are one of the first few to utilize the technology in this detail,” he said. “The data that you are collecting becomes a permanent part of the device. Every publication that comes about, such as the manual for the machine, will have our name saying we were one of the study centers.”

As principal investigator, Davey will also write papers on iVue for publication in journals and other academic outlets.

“We hope to be leading the publications and to be a significant contributor,” he said. “This brings us in on the cutting edge of this particular technology, making sure we’re ahead of the game. And it puts our clinic on the upper pedestal.”

 

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