Smartphone Fundoscopy - Cutting-Edge Cyber Scope

Introduction

Developing high-resolution smartphone cameras presents an opportunity to transform conventional fundus imaging. Many ophthalmologists are creating a new branch of fundoscopy by substituting a smartphone for a binocular indirect ophthalmoscope. The method is affordable and straightforward to learn.

Still, the globalization of mobile networks into many spheres of daily life is also opening up novel prospects for telemedicine, resident training, and clinical care. Fundus photography may be required in various locations, including the emergency room, nursing homes, clinics, and distant places. However, the current gold standard—the tabletop fundus camera—requires a patient to sit upright. It is enormous and expensive, making it difficult for people who are immobile or have other physical limitations.

How Does a Smartphone Fundoscopy Work?

The key idea is to examine using a smartphone screen rather than a binocular indirect ophthalmoscope. The other hand still needs a 20 or 28-dipter lens, but the ophthalmoscope, coaxial light source, and recording device are all provided by your smartphone.

Additionally, obtaining relevant fundus photos is relatively straightforward:

1. Activate the video mode on the device.

2. Put the flash on "on" for continuous lighting.

3. Start recording while holding the lens with the other hand.

4. To adjust focus, use the "pinch" zoom function on the mobile device.

5. Stop the recording after the test is over.

6. Replay the movie and take a screenshot at the desired point to get a still image from the sequence.

Who Utilizes This Technology Now, and Who Should Embrace It?

1. Residency

• Smartphone fundoscopy as a teaching tool is rapidly spreading throughout residency programs.

• For example, a smartphone is a perfect educational tool for residents to share a case with other trainees and colleagues if a patient's fundus discovery is unusual or highly intriguing.

• For instance, a resident on call could see retinal whitening but may be unable to tell if it is caused by necrotizing retinitis or chorioretinitis.

• This new technology is a massive benefit for training since it allows users to share images and chat with a professional through a smartphone.

• Young ophthalmologists are picking up this method quickly because they have grown up with smartphones.

• Recent studies have shown that medical students and residents unfamiliar with traditional indirect ophthalmoscopy may pick up smartphone fundoscopy after minimal instruction.

2. Telemedicine

• Smartphones' simplicity, portability, and accessibility also provide a unique possibility for telemedicine.

• Today's extensive mobile networks make this technique ideal for community settings and remote rural areas with poor resources.

• Researchers have discovered that smartphone photographs are adequate for glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy screening, even though they usually do not create images as crisp as those taken with conventional cameras.

• Several medical missions and humanitarian organizations- domestically and internationally- are already employing smartphone fundoscopy to test for eye illness and establish which patients need to be sent for the proper care.

3. Medical Facility

• Although using smartphone fundoscopy in ophthalmology clinics or private practices with conventional desktop cameras is unusual, this might change shortly.

• Finding needs and determining if smartphone fundoscopy fits current processes is essential for ophthalmologists considering adding it to their toolkit.

• Although there are many reasons why an ophthalmologist would wish to use this technology, it is only for some.

• Some people may want to improve how fast and simply they can record and track clinical results.

• Others might seek to cover a practice gap rather than use their professional photographer to capture less critical situations.

• Others could enjoy using the newest technology and wish to adopt it quickly.

What Are the Benefits of Smartphone Fun­doscopy?

There are several benefits to smartphone fun­doscopy.

1. Smartphones are convenient and affordable, have a safe light source built in, have quick access to secure networks for data transfer, and are widely available.

2. The instrument's widespread use is the only reason this form of imaging is compelling.

3. It is nice to have a high-quality camera in the back pocket if examining a young child or an immobile patient who cannot be positioned for conventional fun­doscopy.

What Are the Limitations of Smartphone Fun­doscopy?

1. Smartphone cameras cannot see the entire retina. Thus, the peripheral view is much narrower than it would be with traditional tabletop instruments. Good dilation is also required.

2. A dense enough medium might still result in a high frequency of optical artifacts caused by the camera flash.

3. Unfortunately, people make significant sacrifices regarding image quality while utilizing smartphone fundoscopy. Due to the technology, the resolution is significantly lower than that of a professional desktop camera.

4. The leading causes are glare and incorrect exposure. However, taking a snapshot of the video sequence might worsen image quality.

5. The smartphone approach has several moving elements, including the doctor, camera, lens, and patient, similar to the conventional indirect ophthalmoscopy method. Thus, the learning curve might be challenging.

How Can These Restrictions Be Overcome?

• Innovators are creating novel strategies and pushing the smartphone's boundaries to overcome these restrictions.

• Many developers are introducing fundoscopy-specific applications to streamline the test procedure. The default smartphone settings are not designed for this kind of job, plain and simple.

• However, a new generation of freely accessible software enables autonomous camera modification.

• Ophthalmologists now use the 3D printing revolution to upgrade their mobile devices.

• Using free, open-source designs, one may print hardware adapters that link the condensing lens to the smartphone at a predetermined but adjustable distance.

• No matter how they utilize the smartphone with the applications above or adapters, they are not FDA-authorized for fundoscopy.

• The smartphone exam is thus exclusively intended for instructional reasons and is not billed as a service. However, several imaging businesses are altering that.

• Digital ophthalmoscopes are independent, portable devices that link smartphones to expert fundus cameras.

• These gadgets still use smartphone technology. Thus, they have some of the drawbacks previously highlighted.

• However, the advantage is that these all-in-one cameras take care of everything automatically by detecting precisely what they are attempting to picture and applying the appropriate modifications.

• There must be more light, focus, exposure, or picture stabilization troubleshooting.

Conclusion

Smartphone fundoscopy is more than just a trend or specialized field. The prospects for it are promising. Whether smartphones will replace traditional desktop computers or the ultra-widefield capabilities of scanning laser ophthalmoscopy is yet to be seen. However, this fundoscopy will increasingly become a crucial supplement to conventional binocular indirect ophthalmoscopy due to the evolution of mobile operating systems and gadgets. Additionally, smartphones may create new photography markets. Mobile technology and augmented reality might provide a brand-new fundoscopy experience in which examiners are alerted by heads-up displays to subtle abnormalities that can be instantly diagnosed and assessed.