A-04: Low-cost fundus camera for the Third World

Research on the technical possibilities of a low-cost fundus camera for Developing Countries

Projekttyp:

The project "Low-cost Fundus Camera for the Third World" will research into and demonstrate technical possibilities for funduscopy with a telemedical connection, with a concrete, application-oriented perspective for use in developing countries. A demonstrator for optimized illumination and imaging optics for non-mydriatic representation of the fundus will be created for this purpose. If possible, a digital image scanner available on the mass market will be used to scan the fundus. The medical value of the digital fundus images will be improved thanks to new image enhancement methods and technologies, and a team of experts will be able to access the images by means of telemedical processes. Such remote diagnostics will allow ophthalmological examination of a large number of people in regions with poor healthcare facilities, even without the presence of an ophthalmologist. A great deal of importance will be placed on a high degree of automation, a robust construction and ease of operation in realizing the fundus camera. This means that a medical layman can use the fundus camera and can also obtain the anamnesis and transmit it together with the fundus images. Having the diagnosis performed remotely means that small local healthcare capacities can be fully devoted to treating the needy in the foreign country.