Artificial Intelligence-Assisted Lesion-Based Urgent Referral Triage of Ultra-Widefield Retinal Images: A Multi-Reader Multi-Case Randomized Reader Study (ALERT-UWF)

June 7, 2026 updated by: XiujuChen, Xiamen Ophthalmology Center Affiliated to Xiamen University

Clinical Utility of an Artificial Intelligence-Assisted Lesion-Based Urgent Referral Triage System for Ultra-Widefield Retinal Images: A Prospective Multi-Reader Multi-Case Randomized Reader Study

his study evaluates the clinical utility of an artificial intelligence (AI)-assisted lesion-based urgent referral triage system for ultra-widefield (UWF) retinal images.

Unlike disease-classification systems, the AI system identifies predefined vision-threatening retinal findings and generates lesion-level urgent referral recommendations. Participating ophthalmologists will evaluate UWF retinal images under randomized AI-assisted and unassisted conditions.

The primary objective is to determine whether lesion-based AI assistance improves urgent referral triage performance compared with unaided image interpretation.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Not yet 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

Ultra-widefield retinal imaging is increasingly used for retinal disease screening and referral triage. Many vision-threatening retinal abnormalities require timely identification and referral to retinal specialists.

The AI system evaluated in this study is designed as a lesion-based triage tool rather than a disease-diagnosis system. The model identifies predefined urgent referral retinal findings and generates referral recommendations based on lesion-level evidence.

Urgent referral findings include:

  • Retinal detachment
  • Untreated retinal tear or retinal hole
  • Vitreous hemorrhage
  • Pre-retinal hemorrhage
  • Subretinal hemorrhage
  • Retinal neovascularization
  • Optic disc neovascularization
  • Tractional fibrovascular membrane Treated retinal tears associated with laser barricade scars are classified as non-urgent referral findings.

A total of 600 UWF retinal images acquired using Zeiss and Optos imaging systems will be included.

Participating ophthalmologists will independently evaluate images in randomized AI-assisted and unassisted settings.

The primary objective is to determine whether AI assistance improves lesion-based urgent referral triage accuracy.

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.
8

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.

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:

  • Licensed ophthalmologists
  • Willing to participate as readers
  • Completion of study training

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Retinal specialists involved in establishing gold-standard labels
  • Prior access to gold-standard labels
  • Incomplete study participation

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: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Factorial 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: AI-Assisted Interpretation
Readers interpret UWF retinal images with lesion-level AI findings and urgent referral recommendations.
Diagnostic test: AI-Assisted UWF Lesion-Based Triage System
Readers interpret UWF retinal images with lesion-level AI findings and urgent referral recommendations.
Active Comparator: Unassisted Interpretation
Readers interpret UWF retinal images without AI assistance.
Diagnostic test: Unassisted Interpretation
Readers interpret UWF retinal images without AI assistance.

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
Correct Lesion-Based Urgent Referral Triage Rate
Time Frame: Immediately after image interpretation.
Proportion of reader referral decisions consistent with expert-adjudicated lesion-based urgent referral classifications.
Immediately after image interpretation.

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
Sensitivity for Urgent Referral Findings
Time Frame: Immediately after image interpretation.
Sensitivity for Urgent Referral Findings
Immediately after image interpretation.
Specificity for Urgent Referral Findings
Time Frame: Immediately after image interpretation.
Specificity for correctly classifying non-urgent referral images according to expert-adjudicated lesion-based triage labels.
Immediately after image interpretation.
False-Negative Rate for Urgent Referral Findings
Time Frame: Immediately after image interpretation.
Proportion of urgent referral images incorrectly classified as non-urgent referral by readers.
Immediately after image interpretation.
False-Positive Rate for Urgent Referral Findings
Time Frame: Immediately after image interpretation.
Proportion of non-urgent referral images incorrectly classified as urgent referral by readers.
Immediately after image interpretation.
Reader Confidence Score
Time Frame: Immediately after image interpretation.
Reader-reported confidence level for referral decisions measured using a 5-point Likert scale, ranging from 1 (very uncertain) to 5 (very confident).
Immediately after image interpretation.
Change in Correct Urgent Referral Decisions After AI Assistance
Time Frame: Immediately after image interpretation.
Number and proportion of cases in which AI assistance changed an incorrect referral decision to a correct referral decision.
Immediately after image interpretation.

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.
Xiamen Ophthalmology Center Affiliated to Xiamen University

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 (Estimated)

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 15, 2026

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.
June 25, 2026

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.
June 30, 2026

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).
June 7, 2026

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 7, 2026

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 11, 2026

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.
June 11, 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.
June 7, 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.
June 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.
  • XMYKZX-KY-2026-011

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

UNDECIDED

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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