Hand-held ophthalmic camera for early detection and mass screening of eye diseases

• Main Author: Abdul Rashid Abdul Wahid
• Other Authors: Tjin Swee Chuan
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2013
• Subjects: DRNTU::Engineering::Electrical and electronic engineering::Optics, optoelectronics, photonics; DRNTU::Engineering::Bioengineering
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/53357
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

In the investigation of the human optical system, diagnosis of eye diseases can be concluded through several tests such as using direct or indirect techniques of ophthalmology performed by health professionals to scrutinize the inside of the fundus of the eye. The ophthalmologists perform these tests to detect diseases such as glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy and other form of diseases which would lead to blindness. With this consideration, early discovery of eye diseases plays a vital role to prevent the loss of eye sight. Globally, people living in the third world country, especially those who live in the rural areas have limited access to this equipment due to the expense and bulkiness of the items. People diagnosed with eye disorders at early stages stand better chances to be successfully treated. Otherwise, treatment after late diagnosis may not allow full recovery from the condition. The main objective is to develop a portable ophthalmic adapter system to fit any digital camera having capability of capturing retina images of patients to substitute existing clinic-based ophthalmic camera system. This new advancement can significantly improve the accessibility for residents to the high quality imaging for early diagnosis. Thus it reduces the dependency of the ophthalmologist since nurses can also accomplish the task in order to speed up the patient flow for screening check-up. With this technology improvement, eye screening will be accessible to the masses with ease. The three main areas of focus and concern for this development is the quality of the captured image, portability and cost efficiency. To perform this investigation, the student utilize various types of lenses and illuminating methods on an eye model. To associate with first initial prototype, the student accomplished a better quality of the captured retinal image. The images yield similar image quality as those in the clinic-based bulky camera equipment without dilating the pupil. Intuitively, the size of device design has been reduce to half from its initial prototype and able to maintain its cost effectiveness. Additionally, it is user friendly device at a reasonable cost. Relatively from the impression of the project, the ophthalmologist in Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH) requests the student to do an additional project to replace the current Relative Afferent Pupil Defects (RAPD) test equipment with a new improve RAPD device to examine the patient’s pupil. Analysis has been done and the student has designed a torch prototype for the ophthalmologist to do trail test on patients. A brief methodology and results will be shown in this report for both projects.