Fraunhofer Center for Assistive Information and Communication Solutions – AICOSDescription:
Diabetic Retinopathy is a progressive and major complication of Diabetes mellitus type I and type II, as the blood vessels of the retina are damaged over the time. Many Diabetic patients (35%) suffer from this condition that causes blindness. At an early stage, Diabetic Retinopathy can be treated with medications and/or surgery. But when the diagnosis is at a more advanced stage, the disease is irreversible. As Diabetic Retinopathy evolves asymptomatically, it is necessary having a program that enables the early detection in all patients with Diabetes. However, a 2015 report reveals that nearly a half of the Diabetic patients never went for an ophthalmologic examination. Considering the prevalence of Diabetes (13% in the Portuguese population aged 20-79 years) and its estimated increase in the next years in all countries worldwide, Diabetes Retinopathy is an emergent problem, even considered by some as a Public Health issue.
A mobile-based solution that can provide an effective pre-diagnosis of all patients in a regular medical appointment, instead of an expensive and complex screening program, appears very promising in the context of health care services. However, new technologies, particularly those aimed at the diagnosis or pre-diagnosis, must be largely validated with the determination of its accuracy and impact, in order to inform the decision-making process. Considering the previous development of the EyeFundusScope prototypes, this project proposes an additional study that applies a comprehensive set of validation tests, in the context of clinical assessment, to a sample of Diabetic patients.
Main Outcomes:
> Provide novel data on prototype testing;
> Generate evidence on the integration of diagnostic tests with a mobile-based solution in the context of clinical settings;
> Generate evidence to inform future decision making in Health Systems.
Author: Sílvia Rêgo
Type: MSc thesis
Partner: Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade do Porto
Year: 2018