Skip to content

Measurement of Total Retinal Blood Flow in Patients With Diabetes and Healthy Subjects

Measurement of Total Retinal Blood Flow in Patients With Diabetes and Healthy Subjects

Status
Completed
Phases
NA
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT01843114
Enrollment
48
Registered
2013-04-30
Start date
2015-01-12
Completion date
2017-03-01
Last updated
2017-03-21

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Type I Diabetes

Keywords

Retinal blood flow, Retinal vessel diameter, Fourier Domain Optical Coherence Tomography, Retinal blood velocities

Brief summary

The prevalence of diabetes and diabetes-associated complications is still increasing. Several major long-term complications of diabetes such as cardiovascular disease, chronic renal failure, diabetic retinopathy and others relate to the damage of blood vessels. Given that the eye provides the unique possibility in the human body to directly visualize blood vessels, much interest has been directed towards studying the ocular circulation. Although data of large epidemiological studies indicate that changes in retinal vessel caliber reflect other diabetes related factors, such as fasting glucose levels, there is still conflicting evidence on blood flow alterations in patients with diabetes. This is also related to the fact that up to now, methodological difficulties aggravate the assessment of blood flow changes in the retina in larger groups of patients. In the present study we propose to overcome this problem by using a technique called bi-directional Fourier Domain Doppler Optical Coherence Tomography (FDOCT), which we have developed in the recent years to measure retinal blood velocities. This technique allows for the non-invasive investigation of blood flow changes in human retina and will help us to better understand diabetes related vascular changes. The present study will use this technique to assess retinal blood flow changes in patients with diabetes and healthy subjects.

Interventions

DEVICEFDOCT

Measurement of retinal blood velocities

Measurement of retinal vessel diameters

Sponsors

Medical University of Vienna
Lead SponsorOTHER

Study design

Allocation
NON_RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
BASIC_SCIENCE
Masking
SINGLE (Outcomes Assessor)

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
Yes

Inclusion criteria

Inclusion criteria for healthy subjects * Men and women aged over 18 years * Non-smokers * Normal findings in the medical history unless the investigator considers an abnormality to be clinically irrelevant * Normal ophthalmic findings, ametropia \< 6 Dpt. Inclusion criteria for patients with diabetes * Men and women aged over 18 years * Non-smokers * Previously diagnosed type I diabetes * No or mild non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy * Normal ophthalmic findings except mild diabetic retinopathy, ametropia \< 6 Dpt.

Exclusion criteria

Any of the following will exclude a healthy subject from the study: * Symptoms of a clinically relevant illness in the 3 weeks before the first study day * Presence or history of a severe medical condition as judged by the clinical investigator * Regular use of medication, abuse of alcoholic beverages, participation in a clinical trial in the 3 weeks preceding the study (except oral contraceptive) * Arterial hypertension (defined as either systolic blood pressure \>145 mmHg or diastolic blood pressure \>90 mmHg) * Blood donation during the previous three weeks * Presence of any abnormalities preventing reliable measurements in the study eye as judged by the investigator * Best corrected visual acuity \< 0.8 Snellen * Ametropia \>= 6 Dpt * Pregnancy, planned pregnancy or lactating Any of the following will exclude a patient with diabetes from the study: * Participation in a clinical trial in the 3 weeks preceding the screening visit * Symptoms of a clinically relevant illness in the 3 weeks before the first study day * Presence or history of a severe medical condition, except diabetes, as judged by the clinical investigator * Arterial hypertension (defined as either systolic blood pressure \>145 mmHg or diastolic blood pressure \>90 mmHg) * Blood donation during the previous three weeks * Moderate to severe non-proliferative or proliferative diabetic retinopathy * Previous laser photocoagulation treatment * Presence of any abnormalities preventing reliable measurements in the study eye as judged by the investigator * Best corrected visual acuity \< 0.8 Snellen * Ametropia \>= 6 Dpt * Pregnancy, planned pregnancy or lactating

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Total retinal blood flow1 dayMeasurement of total retinal blood flow using the Dynamic Vessel Analyzer and Optical Coherence Tomography

Secondary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Retinal blood velocities1 dayMeasurement of retinal blood flow velocities using Fourier Domain Optical Coherence Tomography
Retinal vessel diameter1 dayMeasurement of retinal vessel diameter using the Dynamic Vessel Analyzer

Countries

Austria

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Mar 10, 2026