Purpose:
Current efforts to offer remote screening for common eye diseases such as diabetic retinopathy have been severely hampered by the cost, size, and difficulty-of-use of current retinal cameras. In this study, we sought to construct a low-cost, hand-held, "point and shoot" non-mydriatic retinal camera that can overcome the financial and ease-of-use barriers to cost-effective retinal screening.
Methods:
A portable fundus camera was designed by interfacing a novel optical module with a Panasonic Lumix consumer camera. Non-mydriatic imaging was enabled by use of infrared (IR) illumination and converting the consumer camera to image in the IR spectrum. Novel features were integrated within the camera module to better enable non-expert operation, including laser-based autofocusing, laser-based internal fixation, and a method of easily aligning the camera with the subject’s iris-scleral border. 10 subjects were photographed to demonstrate clinical efficacy of the prototype camera under a UVa IRB approved study.
Results:
A stand-alone, non-mydriatic camera prototype was successfully developed at a parts cost of less than $1500 (Fig. 1A). The prototype camera was capable 55° imaging of the fundus with 12MP image resolution (Fig. 1B). Pathology related to diabetic retinopathy and age-related macular degeneration were identified from fundus images obtained from the low cost camera. Innovative features allowed the camera to easily obtain properly composed and in-focus retinal images in a hand-held, "point & shoot" manner.
Conclusions:
We have determined that a high image quality, non-mydriatic fundus camera can be inexpensively constructed by combining a novel combination of off-the-shelf optical components with an IR-converted consumer camera. This fundus camera shows promise for clinical use within primary care-based eye screening programs.
Keywords: imaging/image analysis: clinical • diabetic retinopathy