Smartphones monitoring glaucoma at home

2023-12-04 09:29:36

News from our full member Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital – Melbourne

It was the simplicity of it that first struck Dr George Kong: an affordable device that many people already owned that could monitor visual fields for people with the chronic eye condition glaucoma and help avoid vision loss. And it could be done from the safety and convenience of home.

Dr Kong, a glaucoma specialist and general ophthalmologist at the Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital’s Department of Opthalmology, has, with collaborator Professor Algis Vingrys from Melbourne University’s Department of Opthalmology and Vision Science, developed an App which allows patients with glaucoma to monitor their visual fields on a simple iPad, reducing the need for patients to travel into a clinic.

“We were initially thinking it could be used as a portable visual field device to improve access to glaucoma care in remote locations,” Dr Kong says, “because you can take it anywhere quite easily as compared to the standard visual field machine that has a very large footprint and is difficult to manoeuvre. Then we realised that there were a lot of patients with iPads at home. We thought ‘Let’s see whether it’s possible for patients to take an iPad and do a visual field test at home.”

The Rotterdam Eyehospital and Erasmus MC invest in eye research and future care

The Departments of Ophthalmology and Radiology & Nuclear Medicine of Erasmus MC and Het Rotterdams Oogheelkundig Instituut (ROI) of Het Oogziekenhuis Rotterdam are jointly establishing the Eye Image Analysis Group Rotterdam. The collaboration makes scientific research possible by combining knowledge about image analysis of the eye. The eye is the only place in the human […]

Global Leaders Gather for Eye Hospital Forum

Experts from 37 eye hospitals around the globe shared knowledge and expertise about eye care advances, research, and safety at the World Association of Eye Hospitals’ (WAEH) 17th annual meeting in Australia. Innovation in eye hospitals, quality in eye care, workforce issues, sustainability, philanthropy, and the important topic of patient reported outcome measures (PROMs) were […]

Same-day bilateral cataract surgery – breaking down the barriers

WAEH Webinar The Netherlands is a leading country in providing same-day bilateral cataract surgery as a treatment for cataracts. In a large study (coordinated by the University Eye Clinic Maastricht) involving 865 patients in 10 hospitals in the Netherlands, it has been shown that same-day bilateral cataract surgery is safe, effective and cost-effective. This study […]

Free Australian-first app reminds patients when to have eyedrops

A smartphone eye drop app developed by a junior doctor aims to improve compliance and clinical outcomes by reminding patients and their carers when to instil their eyedrops. Launched in October, the Sydney Eyedrop planner and reminder application triggers reminders when eye drops are due and also tracks eye drop use. It is designed for the public to […]

WAEH Webinar about Same-day bilateral cataract surgery – breaking down the barriers

Register now for the WAEH Webinar about Same-day bilateral cataract surgery – breaking down the barriers on 20 December 2023! The Netherlands is a leading country in providing same-day bilateral cataract surgery as a treatment for cataracts. In a large study (coordinated by the University Eye Clinic Maastricht) involving 865 patients in 10 hospitals in […]