Feasibility of telemedicine program using a hand-held nonmydriatic retinal camera in Panama.

AIM

To evaluate the image quality of a telemedicine screening program for retinal disease using a nonmydriatic camera among rural island communities in Bocas del Toro, Panama.

METHODS

In June 2018, a group of three medical students volunteered at clinics operated by the Floating Doctors in the province of Bocas del Toro, Panama. Non-mydriatic images of the retina were obtained using the Pictor Plus (Volk Optical, Mentor OH), randomized, and sent to two board-certified ophthalmologists at the University of California, Irvine for analysis using a modified version of the FOTO-ED scale. Inter-rater reliability was calculated using the kappa statistic.

RESULTS

Seventy patients provided a total of 127 images. Average image quality was 3.31, and most frequent image quality was 4/5 on the FOTO-ED scale. Thirty patients had at least one eye image with ideal quality (42.86%), while only one patient had no adequate photos taken (1.43%). However, high quality images were obtained in both eyes in only 12 patients (17.14%). The inter-rater reliability between the two ophthalmologists was 0.614.

CONCLUSION

Further improvements are necessary to acquire higher quality images more reliably. This may include further training and experience or mydriasis.