Telemedicine screening of retinal diseases with a handheld portable non-mydriatic fundus camera

BACKGROUND: We modified and reconstructed a high image quality portable non-mydriatic fundus camera and compared it with the tabletop fundus camera to evaluate the efficacy of the new camera in detecting retinal diseases. METHODS: We designed and built a novel portable handheld fundus camera with telemedicine system. The image quality of fundus cameras was compared to that of existing commercial tabletop cameras by taking photographs of 364 eyes from the 254 patients. In all 800 fundus images taken by two camera types, 400 images per camera, were graded with the four image clarity classifications. RESULTS: Using the portable fundus camera, 63% (252/400) images were graded as excellent overall quality, 20.5% (82/400) were good, 11.75% (47/400) were fair, and 4.75% (19/400) were inadequate. Using the tabletop fundus camera, 70.75% (283/400) images were graded as excellent overall quality, 20.4% (51/400) were good, 13.25% (53/400) were fair, and 3.25% (13/400) were inadequate. Common retinal diseases were easily identified from fundus images obtained from the portable fundus camera. CONCLUSION: The new type of non-mydriatic portable fundus camera was qualified to have professional quality of fundus images. The revolutionary screening camera provides a foundational platform which can potentially improve the accessibility of retinal screening programmes.