Abstract
Purpose :
Cloud based collaboration tools can streamline remote teamwork, however Academic-Industrial teams in ophthalmology usually must piece together their own toolset. We are building a common set of online collaboration tools for ophthalmic researchers to explore the potential of swept-source OCT and collaboratively create the next generation in ophthalmic imaging technology.
Methods :
The Advanced Retina Imaging (ARI) Network brings together the expertise of leading clinicians and researchers around the world with scientists and developers at ZEISS to accelerate the development of OCT innovations to benefit patients. Up to 220 sites will be in the Network. Researchers can collaborate through the ARI Network Hub (Portal) and ongoing discussion, enjoying an evolving set of state-of-the-art tools to manage personal and topic oriented collaborations.
Results :
All ARI Network Members work with the same clinical device, the PLEX™ Elite 9000, with a focus on retinal disease and OCT/OCT angiography; thus eliminating data compatibility issues that hamstring many multisite collaborations.
As opposed to personal emails, communications are primarily team based, and durable threaded conversations form around team owned objects – such as an uploaded data set, the result of an analysis, or a proposal. Team owned objects are shared between teams, subject to sharing rules, which preserve the intellectual property and academic competitiveness of participants. ‘Drop-in’ video conference rooms simplify meeting organization.
A key aspect of the Portal is to drive innovation in ZEISS OCT. Portal users provide product suggestions, evaluate and propose future development on the product. ARI Network members browse each other’s suggestions, vote to prioritize them, and add supplementary information to more clearly communicate issues. A Steering Committee of 16 respected ARI Network members advocate the community’s recommendations to ZEISS.
Conclusions :
The ARI Network and the ARI Network Hub provide a unique opportunity for researchers to work more closely with each other using collaboration tools built specifically for the purpose of doing research with ophthalmic devices. We believe empowering the field’s brightest researchers with great tools and input channels to our innovation process will significantly shorten the bench to bedside transition.
This is an abstract that was submitted for the 2017 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Baltimore, MD, May 7-11, 2017.