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Assessing Cardiovascular Risk through Retinal Fundus Imaging
WITHOUT SOURCES Feburary 2018 saw the release of the exciting research paper ‘Prediction of cardiovascular risk factor from retinal fundus photographs via deep learning’ in Nature Biomedical Engineering. The Google Team had developed a new artificial intelligence technology using deep convolutional neural networks to assess both individual cardiovascular risk factors and the risk of a cardiac event through retinal fundus imaging. The algorithm assesses individual risk factors (including smoking, blood pressure) by generating a...
read moreVisionAtHome Wins $750K Google Prize To Bring Eye Testing To Global Communities
A team from Melbourne’s Centre for Eye Research Australia (CERA) has won this year’s Google Impact Challenge. Medical doctor and PhD candidate Dr William Yan successfully pitched the team’s project, which uses a software algorithm to perform accurate, evidence-based visual acuity testing via webcam and Internet connection. VisionAtHome’s aim is to help rural, remote and mobility-impaired users access and perform eye testing at home, particularly in areas with limited or no access to ophthalmologists. As Dr Yan explains, “94% of...
read moreApp Competition Open: Reimagining Diabetes Management via IBM Watson Health and the American Diabetes Association
The American Diabetes Association has announced a new competition for app developers proposing cognitive computing solutions for diabetes. Clinical and research data from the ADA’s vast repository will be made available via IBM Watson Health. Announced at the ADA’s 76th Scientific Sessions in June, app developers will have the chance to reimagine how diabetes is managed through Watson’s data analysis. Watson will enable healthcare providers, researchers, institutions and patients to all benefit from more streamlined and efficient data...
read moreAustralian Cancer patient app CancerAid set to launch in Asia
Australian startup CancerAid will launch in Asia with the Hong Kong Integrated Oncology Centre. The biggest problem cancer patients and their families face is digesting the bewildering amount of information they are given throughout their journey. CancerAid aims to solve this problem by providing a secure communication and information portal for the millions of people affected by cancer worldwide. CancerAid was founded in Sydney in 2014 by radiation oncology doctor, Nikhil Pooviah. Its mobile app features, such as the Journey Organiser...
read morePeek Acuity app proven by clinical study to be just as accurate as ETDRS and Snellen chart
Results from a recent study published in JAMA Ophthalmology, have shown that the Peek (Portable Eye Examination Kit) Acuity app is just as accurate as ETDRS and Snellen chart for testing visual acuity. This makes the app one of the few mobile health applications to be proven and validated in a clinical trial. The app was tested on 233 Kenyan adults aged 55 and above. The results were found to be just as accurate and repeatable as the Snellen chart, while being comparable in accuracy to the ETDRS chart. In developing countries where access to...
read moreInnovative retinal imaging device turns smartphones into portable ophthalmoscopes
The D-EYE Retinal Imaging System is an innovative device that converts a smartphone into a portable, easy-to-use, affordable, and effective fundus camera. The D-EYE device is a smartphone-sized case that fits onto an Apple iOS or Android phone. The D-EYE fundoscope lens is positioned over the smartphone’s camera and LED light source, enabling the phone to capture high definition video and still images of the fundus of the eye. The D-EYE app installed on the smartphone allows the user to store and manage patient information. The D-EYE...
read moreThe first vision screening app to receive patent
EyeXam is a vision screening app for iOS and Android devices that has recently been issued a patent from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. According to representatives from EyeXam, this makes it the first and only patented method for accurate self-guided mobile vision screening tests. “We are excited to receive our patent for EyeXam and believe patent protection is timed perfectly in light of the explosion in mHealth apps. The ‘medicalized smartphone’ is impacting every aspect of health care, and eye care cannot lag behind,” says Dr....
read moreBe My Eyes app – You can make a difference in a blind person’s life
Be My Eyes is a new app for iOS devices that allows sighted volunteers to help blind people complete everyday tasks. The app uses live video chat to enable a blind person to ask a sighted volunteer for help with simple tasks such as reading the expiration date of a milk carton, to more complex tasks such as navigating new surroundings. Through the iphone or ipad’s video camera, the sighted volunteer is able to describe what they see to help the blind person solve the problem or complete the task. The app is an easy and...
read moreHow do you try and stop Ebola? There might be an app for that…
The spread of Ebola has been a constant fear among the international community. In a bid to try and abate the spread of the disease, health officials are launching the #isurvivedebola app as part of a wider media campaign called #TackleEbola. The app allows survivors of the Ebola outbreak to share stories about the challenges and hardships they faced while combating this deadly disease and aims to put a human face on the condition. Survivors in the past have been stigmatized, which the campaign hopes to eliminate and cast these figures as...
read moreUsing a “selfie” as a medical screening tool: Eyenaemia
A company founded by two medical students at Monash University in Melbourne have found an interesting use of taking a photograph of yourself, which is otherwise colloquially known as a ‘selfie’. The team used the data from the image to analyse the conjunctiva of the subject via an app and compare against a database to assess the risk of anaemia. The team hopes that their solution will help in the diagnosis and treatment of the 2 billion people in the world that suffer from anaemia. Their ingenious application of this modern trend...
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