ICG Cell Imaging Study
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Prospective clinical study of Indocyanine-Green dye immune cell imaging in the Human eye
IRAS ID
217189
Contact name
Colin Chu
Contact email
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 6 months, 0 days
Research summary
Building on published laboratory work, an licensed angiogram dye called Indocyanine-Green (ICG), which has been widely used in hospitals for decades was found to be able to bind to immune cells. This results in them fluorescing so they can then be seen in both the blood and the eye.
This finding could increase our understanding of the contribution of the immune system to many eye diseases by allowing these otherwise invisible cells to be seen in the eyes of living patients. It could also allow us to identify early relapse of disease or more precisely adjust the doses of immunosuppressant medications. We propose a systematic study of the dye in humans, which has not been performed before. It will identify the correct timings and circumstances in which cells can be seen in a selected range of eye diseases.
Initially, patients with ocular diseases already undergoing ICG angiography as part of normal hospital care will be invited to have extra scans of their eyes taken at a range of times over the following week. Two blood samples will also be taken for laboratory analysis to check if the dye-stained cells can be seen.
If this first part of the study is successful healthy volunteers will receive the dye to determine if cells are seen in the eye without disease. Additionally a limited number of patients with eye diseases that do not receive normally receive ICG angiograms as part of current hospital care will be studied. This research will help us determine if the technique will work effectively and if so, then the data obtained will help to bring it to wider availability.
REC name
South West - Frenchay Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
17/SW/0030
Date of REC Opinion
16 Mar 2017
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion