Abstract

Application of simple imaging equipment based on smartphone camera function in diagnosis and treatment of eye diseases in Africa

Author(s): Ke Xiong*, Bright Nkrumah, Yacouba Ciss�?©

The eye image data is very important in the recording of ophthalmic diseases. Various imaging equipments, such as anterior segment camera, fundus-imaging machines, optical coherence tomography scanner, are very expensive and cumbersome. Only a few eye clinics in most African countries have these equipments, the most eye clinics are only equipped with basic ophthalmic examination equipment such as slit-lamp microscope and ophthalmoscope. Now, the miniature camera of smartphones has the ability to take high-resolution photographic images. Combining the smartphone's camera functions and auxiliary simple devices connected to mobile phones can collect eye imagings for clinical applications. The author introduced a simple and cheap device for eye imaging. The method of combining the camera function of a smartphone with a simple imaging device to collect images of the anterior segment and the fundus. It’s simple, easy-to-use and low-cost characteristics can fill this shortcoming in Africa. It can be more familiar and mastered by African ophthalmologists.