StemCell Therapy

by Stuart Tomlinson, KATU News

In some cases, the images produced give a better view of what's happening inside the eye, than an in-person exam, Dr. Chiang said. (OHSU)

With the help of telemedicine, for monitoring a premature Salem baby's eyes for retinal detachment remotely, a doctor at the Casey Eye Institute hopes to prevent a leading cause of blindness in infants born before term.

Born at just 26 weeks, Nathan Brown spent more than three months in the neonatal intensive care unit at Salem Hospital.

Mackenzie and Jonathan Brown's second child had numerous challenges, and following surgery to correct a heart defect, OHSU doctors discovered Nathan had stage one retinopathy of prematurity, or ROP, a condition responsible for Stevie Wonder's blindness.

Rather than bring Nathan to Portland for exams, Dr. Michael Chiang and the Browns decided to monitor Nathans eyes remotely.

Premature babies are really small and really fragile, Chiang said. Nathan was about two pounds when he was born. And because of that it's tough to examine them. They get sick during the exams, they move around. And so when you get photos you're able to capture -- if it's a good photo, you're able to capture all those things and really look at the pictures carefully and scrutinize them.

Dr. Chiang says combining sensitive cameras with software programs allows parents with premature babies in remote areas of the state to have access to ophthalmologists with the specialized skills needed to monitor the condition. Mackenzie Brown was skeptical at first

At first I was like, 'Maybe we should stay in Portland. But they said, "Give it a try, and if we didn't like it we could always come back, Brown said. I mean it was amazing; it made it so that we could always be home.

Last week, the Browns brought Nathan to Dr. Chiang's office for an in-person exam. Nathans ROP has not progressed and his vision appears normal. Chiang hopes to expand the remote monitoring to other hospitals around the state

According to the National Eye Institute, of 3.9 million babies born each year in the United States, 28,000 are born prematurely, and nearly half of them are at risk for blindness from ROP.

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Telemedicine: Casey Eye Institute doctor remotely examines preemies for blindness - KATU

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