Macular disease is the commonest cause of sight loss in the UK, with age-related macular degeneration (AMD) affecting around 700,000 people (Macular Society, 2025). Wet or neovascular AMD (nAMD) is progressive, with most patients requiring timely injections to slow new blood vessel growth. Regular hospital check-ups determine if more injections are needed. So check-ups are usually necessary throughout management – hence the growing interest in the use of home monitoring for nAMD. 

Fewer hospital visits are one potential advantage of an at-home test that could detect when a patient needs treatment. Treatment decisions in hospital are primarily made using optical coherence tomography (OCT) to identify active disease. A future approach would be to stabilise a patient with hospital visits, then to use an at-home test to pick up changes quickly between appointments and improve overall management of the condition. 

Home monitoring could also reduce travel costs as well as time off work for patients, and a reduction in hospital visits would mean cost savings for the NHS. What’s more, patients would receive instant feedback about their progress and benefit from a more relaxing experience.

The treat-and-extend regime for nAMD means the appointment schedule can represent an unknown for patients, says Dr Peter Bloomfield, Director of Research at the Macular Society. A reduced number of intravitreal injections is usually welcome, but a common anxiety is that the disease is progressing between appointments. 

However, home testing can help patients understand it day by day. “Patients think: ‘I’ve been coming in every six weeks, now it’s been extended to 12 – what can I do in the meantime?’,” says Peter. “Self-monitoring, if accurate, can empower them to have the confidence that their condition is stable.”