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Optomeds handheld fundus cameras are sold in over 60 countries around the world and used by major public hospitals, primary care centres and private clinics Image Credit: Supplied Highlights

Our eyes are considered the most important sense. Even though most of us recognise the importance of our sight, many of us are not aware of the importance of systematic eye checks and we are not protecting this valuable sense well enough

Sight is our most precious sense. Most of what we learn is through our eyes and we fear to lose our vision more than any other sense.(1)

Studies have shown that vision impairment is often associated with various negative health outcomes and poor quality of life.(2) Still, approximately 1.3 billion people globally live with some form of vision impairment.(3) Over 80 per cent of all vision impairment could be avoided by early detection and appropriate treatment. Therefore, offering effective and accessible eye care services is key for controlling visual impairment including blindness.(4)

Need for better access to eye examinations

Optomed Plc was founded in 2005 to meet the challenge of more accessible and affordable eye screening devices. Seppo Kopsala, the CEO and founder of Optomed states: In the time when Optomed was established, retinal examinations and eye screenings were performed mainly on the hospital level. The service was not available in rural areas, low-income countries or with patient groups that are not able to travel and sit in front of a tabletop fundus camera. This poor access to eye examinations was the reason why we started developing a portable, handheld fundus camera so that the service would be available to all individuals worldwide and we could help healthcare professionals to prevent blinding eye diseases by early detection.

Today, Optomed is a world-leading manufacturer of handheld fundus cameras and screening management software with integrated Artificial Intelligence for diagnosing the images. Our cameras are sold in over 60 countries globally and we also make handheld fundus cameras to other major medical technology companies. Optomed cameras are being used by major public hospitals, primary care centres, private clinics, non-government and charity organisations around the world and, they have medical device approvals in all key markets, e.g. CE approval, FDA approval, and Chinese CFDA approval. Our mission at Optomed is to provide innovative and affordable eye-screening solutions to prevent blindness and make eye-screening available for all.

Eyes are a gateway to examining blood vessels

Blood vessels can be observed non-invasively in eyes, so they serve as a window to examine signs of several diseases. Today, fundus imaging is routinely used to screen for eye diseases such as diabetic retinopathy, and to seek signs of age-related macular degeneration and glaucoma. With the rise of artificial intelligence, new ways to exploit retinal images have been found especially within neurology and cardiology to study diseases like dementia, stroke and cardiovascular diseases. (5-8)

It is easy to claim that the importance of regular eye check-ups and fundus imaging will increase in the future, thanks to its simplicity, non-invasive characteristics, and the increasing use of Artificial Intelligence for image analysis. Optomed has the right products and know-how to help healthcare providers globally to organise effective and affordable eye-screening programs and together we can aim to stop the growth of preventable blindness.

For more information contact:

Niina Huikuri,Vice President Marketing |+358 40 535 0998 |niina.huikuri@optomed.com

Laura Piila,Vice President Devices | +358 40 588 1187 | laura.piila@optomed.com

Yrttipellontie 1,90230 Oulu, Finland |www.optomed.com

1. J.Zaba. Journal of Behavioral Optometry, Volume 22, 2011

2. Making Eye Health a Population Health Imperative: Vision for Tomorrow. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. National Academies Press (US); 2016 Sep 15

3. Seth R Flaxman et al., Global causes of blindness and distance vision impairment 1990-2020: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Lancet Glob Health, October 2017.

4. WHO. Vision impairment and blindness. Media centre, Fact sheet, October 2017, http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets

WHO. Prevention of blindness from diabetes mellitus. Report of a WHO consultation

5. Cheung CY, Chen C, Wong TY (2015) Ocular fundus photography as a tool to study stroke and dementia. Semin Neurol. 35(5): 481-490.

6. McGrory S, Cameron JR, Pellegrini E, Warren C, Doubal FN, Deary IJ, Dhillon B, Wardlaw JM, Trucco E, MacGillivray TJ (2016) The application of retinal fundus camera imaging in dementia:

A systematic review. Alzheimers Dement (Amst). 6:91-107.

7. Ting DSW, Pasquale LR, Peng L, Campbell JP, Lee AY, Raman R, Tan GSW, Schmetterer L, Keane PA, Wong TY (2018) Artificial intelligence and deep learning in ophthalmology.

Br J Ophthalmol Epub ahead of print: 08/11/2018.

8. Poplin R, Varadarajan AV, Blumer K, Liu Y, McConnell MV, Corrado GS, Peng L, Webster DR (2018) Prediction of cardiovascular risk factors from retinal fundus photographs via deep learning.

Nat Biomed Eng 2, 158-164.

Read more here:
Majority of blindness could be avoided with regular eye check-ups - Gulf News

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