Assessing the subjective quality of smartphone anterior segment photography: a non-inferiority study

PURPOSE: To assess the subjective quality of anterior segment photos taken from a smartphone camera adapted to the slit lamp compared to a commercial inbuilt slit-lamp camera. METHODS: Non-inferiority study. Five paired images of the anterior segment of normal eyes were taken using an iPhone 11 (Apple, Inc., Calif., USA) camera attached to a universal slit-lamp adaptor and a commercial inbuilt slit-lamp camera (Haag-Streit Diagnostics, Bern, Switzerland). Images were collated into a survey in which ophthalmology students, residents, registrars, and consultants participated to select the image taken from the inbuilt slit-lamp camera. If the image quality was subjectively indistinguishable, we expected a 50:50 split for each photograph that was presented. We selected a 10% non-inferiority margin, with the hypothesis that no less than 40% of images believed to be from the conventional camera were in fact from the smartphone camera. RESULTS: There were 27 respondents in the survey: ophthalmology consultants (n = 7), registrars (n = 10), residents (n = 7), intern (n = 1) and students (n = 2). The mean correct identification across the respondents was 11.3 out of 25 (45.2%) images. Overall, the smartphone camera was non-inferior to the inbuilt slit-lamp camera (p < 0.001). The non-inferiority of the smartphone camera was significant for consultants (47.4%, p < 0.01), registrars (47.6%, p < 0.001) and residents (37.7%, p < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: Anterior segment images obtained with a smartphone camera were non-inferior to the commercial inbuilt slit-lamp camera. Smartphone cameras may be a non-inferior tool for communication of anterior segment images having implications for the ease of access to quality telehealth consultations. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10792-022-02437-9.