Eye Phone

[jake]

Phone App Could Prevent Thousands Going Blind
The simple tool allows patients to scan their own retinas and email the images to doctors to remotely diagnose cataracts.
A new app that turns a smartphone into a mobile eye clinic could prevent hundreds of thousands of people going blind.

The Portable Eye Examination Kit (PEEK) has been developed by doctors in London and Glasgow to help diagnose serious eye conditions in the developing world.

Around 39 million people around the globe are blind, 90% of them in low income countries. But 80% of cases could be avoided if health workers could reach them with affordable equipment.

Standard ophthalmology kit is bulky and costs more than £100,000.

But cameras and processing chips on smartphones costing £300 are now so good that they can provide equally good results.

The system is already being tested in Kenya, where 1,000 patients have so far received treatment after being diagnosed by the app.

http://news.sky.com/story/1128997/phone-app-could-prevent-thousands-going-blind

More people have a phone than access to running water. Strange world we live in :Erm:

[Terpe]

I saw this on a BBC news report yesterday.
Very interesting.



...More people have a phone than access to running water. Strange world we live in :Erm:



Yes, it does seem strange. But there's often a compelling reason behind.

Here's an interesting one that you might like.

Is it a phone, is it a bank? (http://www.economist.com/news/finance-and-economics/21574520-safaricom-widens-its-banking-services-payments-savings-and-loans-it)

[Doc Alan]

This is good news :xxgrinning--00xx3: ! It’s thanks to doctors doing research in the UK :smile:.


The phone app ( application ), called PEEK ( Portable Eye Examination Kit ) was developed by experts at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, University of St Andrews, and the NHS Glasgow Centre for Ophthalmic Research. The PEEK system stores information about each patient, together with their GPS location. This can be analysed at a centre of excellence such as Moorfield’s Eye Hospital in London.




PEEK may help diagnosis of a huge number of eye problems, including glaucoma, cataracts, macular degeneration, diabetic and hypertensive changes.


Globally there are indeed vast numbers with impaired vision ( an estimated 285 million ) possibly 39 million of whom are blind.


Unfortunately poorer countries do carry the greatest burden of eye disease. An estimated half a million are blind in the Philippines, where by far the leading cause is cataract. It’s thought that up to 100 children lose their sight every week in the Philippines, half of these being treatable or preventable, including poor nutrition, measles, and premature birth.

http://filipinaroses.com/showthread.php/39481-Look-Out-for-Healthy-Eyes

[jake]

Here's an interesting one that you might like.

Is it a phone, is it a bank? (http://www.economist.com/news/finance-and-economics/21574520-safaricom-widens-its-banking-services-payments-savings-and-loans-it)

:xxgrinning--00xx3: Wow so many subscribers in such a short period of time.

[jake]

Thanks Doc Alan for you very informative post and link which i have just read for the first time.

Sometime ago i watched a documentary on national geographic about a Nepalese doctor who performed cataract surgery. Amazing how many operations he could perform in one day with a 100% success rate.

http://www.cureblindness.org/who/dr-sanduk-ruit/

[RickyR]

I discovered a few days ago that I have a small cataract (<0.5mm) which will require a new lense in 15-20 years time. Amazing how accurate the technology is.

[RickyR]

Discovered by an optometrist, not the app... But would like to try the app.

[SimonH]

Originally Posted by jake
...More people have a phone than access to running water. Strange world we live in



Or maybe more doctors have access to a £300 phone than a £100,000 specialised bit of equipment that is not transportable :Erm:

[Rosie1958]

I have regular eye examinations where photographs of my eye balls are taken and reviewed for changes at the optician's. I thought that was great but developing a smart phone app to do this is absolutely amazing! :yikes: