Prof Robyn Guymer AM
A new service designed to help optometrists and ophthalmologists interpret retinal imaging in patients with geographic atrophy (GA) has launched, offering free expert review of scans to support diagnosis and treatment discussions.
The Integrated Imaging Diagnostic and Education Centre, known as IIDEC, has been established by the Macular Research Unit at the Centre for Eye Research Australia (CERA), under the direction of Professor Robyn Guymer AM. Prof Guymer is a CERA Deputy Director and Head of its Macular Research Unit.
IIDEC has been developed in partnership with Pliny – a cloud-based clinical and ocular data management platform for eye care professionals – and is supported by both Astellas and Apellis.
GA, a late stage of age-related macular degeneration, remained without any approved treatment until 2023. Since then, two therapies have been approved in Australia: pegcetacoplan (Apellis) was approved by the Therapeutic Goods Administration in early 2025. Approval for avacincaptad pegol (Astellas) followed soon after. Their approval has changed the conversation for clinicians managing GA patients, but working out which patients stand to benefit is not always straightforward.
“The decision depends on several patient factors, but crucially on the GA lesion and macula imaging characteristics,” Prof Guymer said. “Provision of a service, which could provide a report on GA lesion characteristics that should be considered when thinking about possible GA treatment for an individual patient, would help determine the most appropriate people to consider for referral and treatment.”
Neither treatment is currently listed on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS). Apellis had sought PBS listing for pegcetacoplan but has since withdrawn that application, meaning the drug remains available in Australia but only at full cost to patients. Avacincaptad pegol received a positive recommendation for PBS listing by the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee in March 2026, however, is yet to be listed. Should the listing be achieved, the IIDEC service will also provide guidance on whether or not individual patients appear to meet any PBS-funded criteria.
The IIDEC workflow is designed to fit around existing clinical routines rather than add substantially to them.
How It Works
The IIDEC workflow is designed to fit around existing clinical routines rather than add substantially to them. During a routine examination of a patient with suspected GA, the treating clinician captures retinal images, ideally a full optical coherence tomography (OCT) cube scan alongside fundus autofluorescence imaging. With verbal patient consent, these are uploaded securely to IIDEC via the Pliny platform. Clinicians already using Pliny benefit from automatic backup of scans from their imaging devices to the cloud, while those who are not yet Pliny users can upload scans manually at no cost.
Once received, IIDEC readers carry out quality control checks and assess the imaging biomarkers relevant to GA and its progression.
A retinal specialist then reviews both the imaging metrics and any relevant PBS criteria before a structured report is generated for the referring clinician, covering diagnostic impressions and the educational features of the imaging that are relevant to management.
The report stops short of making any recommendation on management. “The IIDEC report will only interpret the signs seen on the images provided and will not provide any recommendations regarding referral or treatment,” Prof Guymer said. “IIDEC’s aim is only to provide information that will educate the clinician on GA imaging characteristics and help their counselling and decision making.”
Patient privacy has also been built into the design. Images sent to IIDEC are destroyed once the report has been issued, meaning no formal consent for image storage is required from patients, and the treating clinician retains their own record of what was submitted.
The Bigger Picture
Beyond the immediate clinical application, Prof Guymer sees the initiative as a step towards addressing a longer-standing issue in Australian eye care: the difficulty of sharing a full suite of digital images between clinicians treating the same patient.
“This capability is critical for best practice but has to this point limited all our ability to work cohesively across Australia’s eye care community,” she said.
“By helping to ensure the most appropriate referrals for treatment and supporting decisions around which patients to treat, IIDEC will help ensure the right patient receives the right treatment at the right time.”
IIDEC is now available to all Pliny customers. Clinicians who are not yet using Pliny can contact hello@pliny.com.au to find out how to get started.
