In Germany, around 10,000 new cases of blindness occur every year, 50% of which are due to age-related macular degeneration and 17% to the consequences of diabetic retinopathy alone. These diseases are often treated with the so-called intravitreal injection (IVI), in which patients receive injections into the vitreous at regular intervals. However, the strategies for the best possible treatment intervals have not yet been sufficiently investigated outside of clinical studies (i.e. in the “real world”).

The aim of the EyeMatics project is to make clinical data from patients receiving IVI therapy available for scientific evaluation in order to improve patient care. To this end, EyeMatics combines individual data sources from various inpatient and outpatient care systems and makes this wealth of data accessible across all locations.

The IT solutions and infrastructures developed, taking into account data protection-relevant parameters, will not only contribute to improving the treatment of IVI patients, but also to accelerating medical research as a whole, thereby promoting innovation. The project makes a major contribution to the digitalization of ophthalmology and the healthcare system as a whole by defining data standards and creating infrastructures for secure data exchange.