Portable Anterior Eye Segment Imaging System for Teleophthalmology

OBJECTIVE: This study aims to compare a new prototype for a portable anterior eye segment imaging system with the standard method for ophthalmology examination. METHODS: The new imaging system consisted of two IMX219 Arducam autofocus sensors (Arducam, China, Nanjing) for Raspberry Pi V2 camera module connected to a Raspberry Pi Zero W (Raspberry Pi Foundation, UK, Cambridge) that clips to a wearable headset. The 2D videos of the anterior eye segment were recorded with the new system and a 720p FaceTime HD camera (Apple, Cupertino, CA). Afterward, ophthalmologists evaluated the videos using a standard clinical eye examination form. These evaluations were compared with the standard slit-lamp clinical assessment performed during the patient's visit. RESULTS: Thirty-five eyes were evaluated. The sensitivity and specificity percentages were statistically significant between the two imaging modalities (P ≤ 0.001). The evaluations performed from videos obtained with the new imaging system had better sensitivity and specificity percentages overall. However, statistically significant differences were only observed in cornea, anterior chamber, iris, and lens. CONCLUSIONS: Specificity percentages were higher than sensitivity percentages in both imaging modalities, indicating that video evaluations are less accurate for pathological screening. Nevertheless, the new system evaluations were significantly better than the webcam evaluations. TRANSLATIONAL RELEVANCE: This study presented an alternative system to assess eye conditions for telemedicine, one that provides more details than the current standard and uses new wearable headsets technologies.