Direct Discrimination of Quantum States by the Human Eye

March 16, 2026 updated by: Centre for Eye and Vision Research

Direct Discrimination of Quantum States by the Human Eye With Macular Degeneration

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD), is a debilitating eye disease that causes a loss of central vision. The prevalence of AMD increases exponentially with age and causes a significant impact through both medical expenses and the social and economic costs associated with vision loss. AMD is the global leading cause of blindness among people over the age of 60. Detection of this eye disease at early stages coupled with prompt treatment can prevent vision loss; however, modern diagnosis methods are ineffective at diagnosis of AMD before vision loss occurs. While a range of available treatment options has been effective at slowing vision loss due to AMD, no treatment exists which can recover lost vision. The investigators propose to apply tools developed in quantum information science to diagnose AMD before vision has been affected, drastically improving health outcomes for patients with AMD.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Recruiting

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Detailed Description

There has been tremendous progress in generating and detecting structured light which possesses advantageous propagation characteristics such as quantized orbital angular momentum (OAM), non-diffraction, and self-healing. These special beams have found applications in microscopy, encoding and multiplexing of communications, and manipulation of matter. Here the investigators bring the structured light toolbox to vision sciences for the first time and expand the space of possible stimuli.

A healthy macula possesses azimuthally ordered dichroic fibres that act as a radial polarization filter, enabling a typical person to perceive linearly polarized light through the entoptic phenomena known as Haidinger's brushes. Despite significant interest in the application of this phenomenon to the detection of age-related macular degeneration, no device has currently seen widespread adoption in a clinical environment. This is due to the difficulty in observing Haidinger's brush, the imprecise measurements that this test can extract, and the difficulty in instructing patients during these tests.

Leveraging the quantum-inspired toolbox developed in the field of structured light, the investigators can project polarization-coupled OAM states of light directly on a person's retina. This enables the investigators to create arbitrary entoptic patterns in a person's vision based on the structure and chemical composition of their subjective macula, and the investigators have the opportunity to develop a litany of novel diagnostic tests to characterize and quantify the health of the macula.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
50

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Contact

The name and contact information for the person who can answer enrollment questions for a clinical study. Each location where the study is being conducted may also have a specific contact, who may be better able to answer those questions.

Study Contact Backup

  • Name: Mukhit Kulmaganbetov, MD, PhD
  • Phone Number: +852-3169-9631
  • Email: mukhit.k@cevr.hk

Study Locations

  • Hong Kong
    • Guangdong
      • Hong Kong, Guangdong, Hong Kong, 00000
        • Recruiting
        • Centre for Eye and Vision Research Limited
        • Contact:
          • Peter CK Pang, PhD
          • Phone Number: +852-2766-7927
          • Email: csm@cevr.hk
        • Sub-Investigator:
          • Taranjit Singh, BSc

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Participants who are clinically diagnosed with a vision disease affecting their macula
  • Older adults who are matched for age.
  • Participants who are clinically diagnosed with glaucoma
  • Participants who have normal vision.
  • One aged-matched control with normal vision will be recruited for each of the diagnosed groups (born in the same year).

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Participants with any additional eye diagnosis or condition

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Diagnostic
  • Allocation: N/A
  • Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Experimental: Participants with Age-Related Macular Degeneration
Conducting the psychophysical task on the perception of OAM-coupled polarized light
Device: Structured Light Imaging Microscopy
Conducting the psychophysical task on the perception of OAM-coupled polarized light created using the experimental setup - Structured Light Imaging Microscopy (SLIM). Four types of vortex orbital angular momentum, differing by the number of fringes l=5;10; 15;20, will be presented for 0.5s per trial during which an azimuthally varying entoptic profile rotated clockwise or counterclockwise. A circular mask with a varying radius will be placed at fixation, thus the task will be performed at varying eccentricities. Circular obstruction of the area will be achieved due to the high refresh-rate structured light modulator. The threshold mask size will be changed by a 2up/1down staircase method (71% accuracy for the estimation of mask size).

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Perception of the structured light
Time Frame: Approximately 10 minutes, Screening and Training day (Session 1)
Assessment of the participant's ability to see the entoptic phenomena created using the structured light (SL) - orbital angular momentum (OAM) coupled polarized light. Various SL vortex and radial patterns will be projected using the custom research-based laser optical setup
Approximately 10 minutes, Screening and Training day (Session 1)
Radius of the radial retinal polarizer
Time Frame: Approximately 30 minutes, on the completion of the study (Session 6)
Calculation of the radius of the central obstruction. From a total of 14 reversal trials, the six last values of the mask size will be used for the calculation of the threshold mask size mean (r mean). The standard deviation will be computed from the variance of these last six trials
Approximately 30 minutes, on the completion of the study (Session 6)

Secondary Outcome Measures

Secondary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, a planned outcome measure that is not as important as the primary outcome measure for evaluating the effect of an intervention but is still of interest. Most clinical studies have more than one secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Thickness of retina and retinal layers
Time Frame: Approximately 10 minutes, Screening and Training day (Session 1)
Measurement of the retinal layers' thickness and total neuroretina
Approximately 10 minutes, Screening and Training day (Session 1)
Contrast sensitivity
Time Frame: Approximately 5 minutes, Screening and Training day (Session 1)
Computer-based measurement of contrast sensitivity
Approximately 5 minutes, Screening and Training day (Session 1)
Fundus photography
Time Frame: Approximately 5 minutes, Screening and Training day (Session 1)
Imaging the retina using white light. The diameter of the optic nerve head will be measured in order to calculate the degree/pixel ratio for each participant
Approximately 5 minutes, Screening and Training day (Session 1)
Ocular biometry measurement
Time Frame: Approximately 5 minutes, Screening and Training day (Session 1)
Measurement of the central corneal thickness and axial eye length
Approximately 5 minutes, Screening and Training day (Session 1)
Macular pigment optical density measurement
Time Frame: Approximately 10 minutes, Screening and Training day (Sessions 1 and 2)
Computer-based measurement of the macular pigment optical density (MPOD)
Approximately 10 minutes, Screening and Training day (Sessions 1 and 2)

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
Centre for Eye and Vision Research

Collaborators

Collaborators

An organization other than the sponsor that provides support for a clinical study. This support may include activities related to funding, design, implementation, data analysis, or reporting.
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
University of Waterloo

Investigators

Investigators

A researcher involved in a clinical study. Related terms include site principal investigator, site sub-investigator, study chair, study director, and study principal investigator.
  • Principal Investigator: Benjamin Thompson, PhD, Centre for Eye and Vision Research
  • Study Director: Mukhit Kulmaganbetov, MD, PhD, Centre for Eye and Vision Research

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
June 26, 2023

Primary Completion (Estimated)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
July 1, 2029

Study Completion (Estimated)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
October 1, 2029

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
May 31, 2023

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
June 9, 2023

First Posted (Actual)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
June 22, 2023

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
March 18, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
March 16, 2026

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
March 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • SLIM

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

YES

IPD Plan Description

Anonymized data will be shared on request

IPD Sharing Time Frame

After the publication of study results for an indefinite period.

IPD Sharing Access Criteria

Upon reasonable request and approved by the study principal investigator.

IPD Sharing Supporting Information Type

  • STUDY_PROTOCOL

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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Conditions

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