#investigate #smartphonebased #technology #ophthalmoscopy #veterinary #medicine
Visualization of the ocular fundus is an important diagnostic and clinical tool in human and veterinary medicine, which allows the detection and monitoring of ocular pathologies (e.g., retinal atrophy or glaucoma), as well as ocular manifestations of systemic conditions such as diabetes mellitus, systemic hypertension, infection, and neoplasia.
Although observation of the ocular fundus is generally achieved with direct or indirect ophthalmoscopy, there are challenges inherent when performing ophthalmoscopy and correctly interpreting the findings. These two drawbacks have limited the widespread use of ocular fundoscopy in clinical practice.
According to a recent survey, the direct ophthalmoscopy would be the preferred method for most veterinarians in clinical practice. However, while direct ophthalmology can generally complement other methods by providing a magnified view of a detected lesion, it is otherwise not appropriate for screening purposes due to its very narrow field of view. Likewise, in the same survey, the majority of veterinarians expressed strong interest in continuing ophthalmoscopy education, highlighting the potential for novel methods to provide training and improve clinicians’ confidence in fundus visualization.
In this framework, the smartphone based technology It is a promising tool in clinical ophthalmology. Smartphones allow doctors to view and photodocument different aspects of the eyes in a convenient and cost-effective way, capturing high-resolution photographs and videos that can be used by doctors for different purposes, including medical records, education, and telemedicine.
Specifically for the ocular fundus, smartphone-based technology has recently been described in veterinary medicine as a tool for direct and indirect ophthalmoscopies and as a useful adjunct to live examinations and model eyes for veterinarians. In fact, Smartphone-based technology appears to be more intuitive and easier to learn than traditional ophthalmoscopy methodsespecially in veterinary medicine, where patients do not sit still for the examiner.
Against this background, a recent study, carried out by researchers at the Koret School of Veterinary Medicine in Israel, wanted describe the user experience with the camera Volk Vista View, a wearable smartphone-based camera, with a wide field of view, which has recently been commercialized for use in human and veterinary medicine. Likewise, the authors proposed as a secondary objective to compare the fundus images obtained through the Volk VistaView with those obtained through a more established and veterinary-specific fundus camera (Smartscope VET2; Optomed).
To carry out the study, veterinary patients selected from a reference ophthalmology service with one or both eyes with clear ocular media were included, which allowed the examination of the background. After pharmacological mydriasis, fundus images were obtained with the Volk VistaView portable fundus camera. Furthermore, for comparison, the fundus of a subset of animals was also captured with a veterinary-specific fundus camera (Optomed Smartscope VET2).
The large field of view achieved by the Volk VistaView allowed rapid and exhaustive observation of the fundus in animals., providing a tool to visualize and record common posterior segment pathologies. Captured fundus images were sometimes overexposed, and the tapetal fundus appeared artificially hyperreflective when using the Volk VistaView camera, a finding that was less common when a “vet mode” was activated, which reduced the sensitivity of the camera sensor. In this sense, they emphasize that the Volk VistaView compared well with the Optomed Smartscope VET2.
However, the main limitation of the study was the small sample size. Still, the findings of this work underline that the Volk VistaView camera was easy to use and provided good quality fundus images in veterinary medicine patients with healthy or diseased eyes, offering a wide field of view ideal for screening purposes.
