Improving how people with glaucoma use eye drops

Quantifying and Understanding Glaucoma Eye Drop Medication Instillation and Adherence

NIH-funded research University of Michigan at Ann Arbor · NIH-11293875

This project looks at how older adults with glaucoma put in their eye drops and uses a motion-sensing system to help them take medication more reliably.

Quick facts

Grant typeR01 grant
Study typeNIH-funded research
Funding institutionUniversity of Michigan at Ann Arbor NIH-funded
Lab location1 site (Ann Arbor, United States)
Project IDNIH-11293875 on NIH RePORTER

What this research studies

If you have glaucoma and use eye drops, this project would track how you move when you try to put drops in your eyes using a small monitoring system called EAMS that records motion and time stamps. The system sends those recordings to your healthcare team so they can share clear feedback about your dosing and technique. The team has already used the system in lab tests to find movement patterns that predict whether drops actually make it into the eye, and now they want to see how people perform in everyday settings. The goal is to learn common problems and improve support so more patients get their medication into the eye correctly.

Who could benefit from this research

Good fit: Ideal candidates are adults, especially people aged 65 and older with a glaucoma diagnosis who use prescribed eye drop medications daily.

Not a fit: People who do not use eye drop medications for glaucoma or who are unwilling to have their drop-use monitored may not benefit from this project.

Why it matters

Potential benefit: If successful, this could help patients get their drops in more often and correctly, lowering the risk of vision loss from glaucoma.

How similar studies have performed: Previous lab-based work with the same motion-monitoring system has identified movement patterns that predict successful instillation, but testing in real-world home settings is more recent.

Where this research is happening

Ann Arbor, United States

Researchers

About this research

  1. This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
  2. Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
  3. For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page below.
Last reviewed 2026-06-09 by the Find a Trial editorial team. Information on this page is for educational purposes and is not medical advice. Always consult qualified healthcare professionals about clinical trial participation.