The project is intended to solve the problem of a lack of ophthalmologists and experts in remote areas. The development utilises computer and Internet technology in what is called telemedicine, to provide medical treatment to eye-disease patients from a distance, said Nectec's assistant researcher Wuttikorn Chaopramualkul.

There are many patients in rural areas facing eye diseases such as cataracts. Many cannot get proper medical treatment because local hospitals lack ophthalmologists. The idea, Wuttikorn said, was to develop tele-diagnosis equipment to allow ophthalmologists in central areas to examine the patients from afar over the Internet.

The team used a hospital slit lamp microscope attached to a digital camera to capture images of the patient's eye. When ophthalmologists examine the patient, even if they are some distance away, they can see the patient's eye and explore the symptoms through a computer system linked to the Internet.

Wuttikorn said the pictures of the eye captured at the patient's location are sent through the network to the ophthalmologist. To make the process more efficient, the system is designed to allow the ophthalmologists to move the microscope left, right, up and down to fit the patient's eye position, as if they're in the same room as the patient.

Instructions to move the microscope are sent from the ophthalmologist's computer to the computer at the patient's site, which are then translated to commands to drive a motor installed under the microscope.

"With this, the ophthalmologist is able to examine their patient's eye from anywhere. It offers more alternatives to provide medical treatment to areas which lack experts," he said. The team spent a year to develop the system which has been tested at Mettapracharak (Watraikhing) Hospital in Nakhon Pathom province.

In the test, the system could be used to help ophthalmologists examine eyes remotely, but since the idea is just in the first phase, it still requires improvement in terms of the clarity of the picture, the ease of adjusting the picture during the examination process, the speed of the whole process to provide faster examinations, and importantly, the development of a patient database system.

The system is eventually intended for use in remote hospitals with broadband Internet access.

Wuttikorn said the team also planned to spend another year developing the second phase of Eye Tele Analyser with a faster remote examination process and greater ease of use.

Pongpen Sutharoj

The Nation