I-Corps: RetiCue: Interactive Retinal Imaging for Improved Global Eye Health

这项拟议的技术是一种低成本的便携式视网膜成像设备，用于诊断和监测各种形式的视网膜病变，足够早地进行医疗干预，以防止视力丧失。使用计算摄影技术捕获图像并将其可视化，然后将其传输到基于云的服务器，该服务器执行分析并允许访问远程专家进行评估。这种方法不仅是为了取代目前零售价为3.5万美元的相机，而且还有可能改变进行视网膜成像的方式，并且只需对其软件界面进行最少的事先培训就可以达到这种检测精度。这项技术的基础是两种新颖的战略。第一种技术是利用视网膜通过巩膜的间接漫射照明，而不是通过通过瞳孔的聚焦光束进行照明，从而消除了专家放大瞳孔和精确聚焦光束的需要。光束也被用来照亮视网膜上的不同点。在另一只眼睛前面的显示器上呈现的未经筛选的刺激被用来改变患者S的视野，以产生完整的视网膜图像。这第二种新策略利用了双眼耦合--双眼一起移动的现象。随着未来几十年医疗保健需求的飙升，拟议中的方法将提供一种经济高效且简单的方法来监控视网膜健康，并可能改变估计价值30亿美元的视网膜成像市场。在价格、便携性和简单性方面的优势大大增加了视网膜筛查的可及性。该应用程序可以很容易地扩展到检测和监控许多其他与视网膜相关的疾病，如青光眼和老年性黄斑变性，以及其他在视网膜上出现的疾病。移动计算、便携式成像和无线通信的最新进展有可能使临床环境之外的视网膜成像成为可能，这可能通过移动、非侵入性健康筛查对远程医疗产生重大影响。未来频繁和大规模临床视网膜成像的可能性可能为此类疾病的检测、诊断和治疗提供新的机会。

The proposed technology is a low-cost portable retinal imaging device to diagnose and monitor forms of retinopathy, early enough for medical intervention to prevent vision loss. Images are captured and visualized using computational photography techniques and transmitted to a cloud-based server that performs analysis and allows access to remote experts for evaluation. This approach is not only intended as a substitute for present day cameras that retail for $35,000, but also has the potential to changes the way retinal imaging is performed and can achieve this detection accuracy with minimal prior training of its software interface. Two novel strategies underlie the technology. The first is a technique to utilize indirect diffused illumination of the retina through the sclera instead of illumination with a focused beam through the pupil, thus eliminating the need for a specialist to dilate the pupil and precisely focus the beam. The beam is also used to illuminate different points on the retina. A stimulus presented on a display in front of the opposing eye, not being screened is used to vary the patient?s focus across his visual field to generate the full retinal image. This second novel strategy exploits binocular coupling - the phenomenon of both eyes moving together. With soaring demand for health care in the coming decades, the proposed approach will provide a cost-effective and simple way to monitor retinal health and can potentially transform the $3 Billion estimated market for retinal imaging. The advantage in price, portability, and simplicity dramatically increases accessibility to retinal screening. The application can easily be expanded to detect and monitor many other retina related disorders, such as glaucoma and age related macular degeneration, as well as other diseases that manifest in the retina. Recent advances in mobile computing, portable imaging, and wireless communication have the potential to enable retinal imaging outside of clinical settings, which could have significant impact on tele-medicine through mobile, non-invasive health screenings. Future possibilities for frequent and out-of-clinic retinal imaging on a large scale may provide new opportunities for the detection, diagnosis and treatment of such diseases.