Peek, the Portable Eye Examination Kit consists of tools being developed as a collaboration between the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, the University of Strathclyde and the NHS Glasgow Centre for Ophthalmic Research, pooling their complementary expertise in international eye health, biomedical engineering and ophthalmic research.
The team estimate that 80% of all blind people have needlessly lost their sight through preventable or treatable conditions and that frequently, it is populations with the greatest need that have the least access to care.
The Peek Retina adaptor, developed at the University of Strathclyde and NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, clips over the camera to replicate the ophthalmoscope and retina camera and sees inside the eye, snapping high quality images of the back of the eye, including the optic nerve and retina. The system can be used to diagnose cataracts, glaucoma and causes of retinal blindness, such as diabetes-linked diseases.
Dr Iain Livingstone, an ophthalmologist and Research Fellow based at the NHS Glasgow Centre for Ophthalmic Research, said: “With Peek Retina, imaging can be performed with minimal training using a smartphone. We hope that in the near future, integration of Peek Retina with computerised grading systems will bring high quality screening to resource poor settings, detecting such blinding conditions as diabetic eye disease, helping connect patients with treatment.”
The public are being asked to support the development of the Peek Retina adaptor through a campaign on a crowd funding site, Indiegogo – either through purchase of the kit or donation.
Links
University of Strathclyde: ‘Smartphone device offers new hope for tackling blindness’
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde: ‘Smartphone Eye Examinations Using Peek App’
Wired UK: ‘Peek Retina aims to save sight with Indiegogo campaign’