Tele-Ophthalmology as A Screening Tool For Diabetic retinopathy In A Rural population

1. Dr.V.Narendran
2. Dr.Rodney J Morris
3. Dr.V.R Saravanan
4. Dr.Parag Shah
5. Dr.Abhishek Kothari
6. Dr.Thomas Chacko

Aravind Eye Hospital, Coimbatore, India

Purpose: The study analyses the screening of diabetic patients for Diabetic Retinopathy in rural and underserved areas with the help of the hi-tech VSAT (Very Small Aperture Terminal) mobile van and its impact on awareness creation.

Method: The VSAT is a two- way satellite ground station with a dish antenna that is smaller than 3 meters. VSAT's access satellites in geosynchronous orbit to relay data from the remote mobile van to the reading and grading centre. The digital photographs that are captured by a fundus camera placed in the VSAT mobile van are transmitted to our reading and grading centre for staging of Diabetic Retinopathy and advice regarding appropriate treatment is received at the van in about 20 minutes.

Results: 3 year study duration, 71 mobile van screening camps conducted. 15,985 people screened for diabetes mellitus. Of these 3,113 known diabetics, 179 newly detected diabetics. Diabetic Retinopathy was freshly detected in 539 patients, 81 patients availed tertiary care treatment at the base hospital.

Conclusion: Tele-ophthalmology is a useful screening tool for Diabetic Retinopathy in rural and underserved population, where without this technology, the community would have never been screened for Diabetic Retinopathy. In addition, it helped in creating awareness on Diabetic Retinopathy in the community, evident by the fact that the screening numbers have increased by 67% for diabetes, 43% for diabetic retinopathy and 30% for laser photocoagulation at the base hospital at the end of the study period.