Overview
Approximately 314 million people worldwide are visually impaired, with 87% of this affected population residing in developing countries. A low-cost and effective screening technology for retinal diseases that can be used in remote healthcare settings is critically needed to expand access to eye examinations and prevent blindness.
Project Vision and Strategy
Under the direction of Professor Dan Fletcher, the CellScope team will develop and deploy to Thailand a mobile phone-based ophthalmoscope, the Ocular CellScope 2.0, which has the potential to dramatically increase worldwide access to retinal (fundus) imaging and promote treatment of retinal diseases such as those associated with HIV/AIDS.
Update
The team sent 20 imaging devices to collaborators in Nepal who have screened over 200,000 patients for corneal scarring using these instruments. The team also sent the Ocular CellScope for retinal imaging to three U.S. and Thai collaborators who are providing feedback and beginning clinical studies incorporating the device. With continued iteration on the new instrument, the team will send out more Ocular CellScopes to collaborators in the U.S. and abroad and that the device will also be applied to diabetic retinopathy and CMV retinitis screening. NASA is planning a study with the Ocular CellScope for a study comparing physician and non‐physician performance in conducting eye exams.
Lead Researchers
- Professor Dan Fletcher, Bioengineering, UC Berkeley