Smartphones monitoring glaucoma at home

2022-05-16 10:48:37

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.”

Wilmer Eye Institute: #1 ophthalmology research program in the U.S

As the #1 ophthalmology research program in the U.S., Wilmer Eye Institute has a big presence at the nation’s biggest ophthalmology research meeting. Here’s a look at what some Wilmer presenters will be talking about at ARVO 2022. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Avb_UrZGLRU

International Schwartz Rounds: looking for panelists

During the coronapandemic the WAEH together with the team from Moorfields organized two webinars about the Schwartz Rounds. This year we would like to organize these rounds again and are looking for panelists! Schwartz Rounds provide a structured forum where all staff, clinical and non-clinical, come together regularly to discuss the emotional and social aspects […]

Dutch BICAT study proves safety and effectiveness of immediate sequential bilateral cataract surgery

Image caption: “in ISBCS, transparant eye patches are used (right picture) instead of a non-transparant eye patch in DSBCS (left picture)” News from our full member: University Eye Clinic Maastricht, the Netherlands Immediate sequential bilateral cataract surgery (ISBCS) offers comparable safety and efficacy to delayed sequential bilateral cataract surgery (DSBCS), according to a major Dutch […]

Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust: Understanding the impact of “hand‐holding volunteers” providing theatre support during surgery ‐ The patient perspective

News from our founding member: Moorfields Eye Hospital The majority of cataract, and some glaucoma eye surgeries is undertaken using local anaesthetic and can be uncomfortable for patients and make them feel anxious. This can be very unpleasant and cause anxiety in patients. Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust uses volunteers in a “hand‐holding” role to provide comfort […]

As WAEH we are there to help….

Olena Kurylo was blinded in her right eye when a missile destroyed her apartment block in the opening hours of Russia’s brutal invasion last month. […] She was in danger of developing a fatal infection from her wounds. It was clear that Olena needed urgent surgery – but first she had to escape what had […]

A worldwide network of eye hospitals

Contact

Maaike van Zuilen,
maaike.vanzuilen@waeh.org