Scientists have developed a low-cost attachment that turns a smartphone into an eye screening tool for rural communities where access to ophthalmologists is limited.
Results presented today at the 44th Congress of the European Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons (ESCRS) show a high level of agreement between remote screening using the device and examinations carried out in person at rural eye camps.
In collaboration with researchers from Johns Hopkins University, Ravilla's team developed a small attachment that clips onto a smartphone camera.
The device contains a magnifying lens, two small white LEDs powered by the phone, and a silicone scope that rests against the patient's eye socket to block ambient light and ensure clear pictures can be taken.
The smartphone images were reviewed remotely by ophthalmologists, and their diagnoses and referral decisions were then compared with those made by ophthalmologists who examined the same patients in person at the eye camps.
Both approaches showed 89% agreement when identifying cataracts, rising to 96% for patients with mature cataracts.
The most clinically important finding was that when the remote ophthalmologist reviewed the smartphone images and the in-person eye camp doctor independently decided whether a patient needed to be referred to hospital for further care, they agreed in 96 out of every 100 cases.
【MORE】