Smartphone-based intraocular lens microscope

A corneal stroma circular ring captured by smartphone adaptor slit lamp camera after small incision lenticule extraction

A corneal stroma circular ring has captured by smartphone adaptor slit lamp camera after smile for 1 week.

Trends in Ophthalmological Patents, 2005-2020

Purpose: Technological development drives the optimization of therapeutics in ophthalmology, but quantifiable and systematic review of such innovation is lacking. To fill this gap, we characterize trends in ophthalmology-related patents in the United States from 2005 to 2020. Methods: Publicly available patent data from the US Patent and Trademark Office was analyzed with the R programming language. Ophthalmology-related patents were identified with a keyword search of their titles and claims text. Temporal trends were assessed with the Mann-Kendall trend test (α = 0.05, two-sided). Results: Of 4.5 million collected patents, some 21,000 (0.5%) were ophthalmology related. The number of annually granted ophthalmology patents increased over time (Mann-Kendall test: z = 4.91; P < 0.001), from 619 patents released in 2005 to 2,019 patents in 2020. Patent counts also increased over time for all ophthalmic subspecialties except oculoplastics, with steepest rises in retina (z = 4.91; P < 0.001) and cornea (z = 4.64; P < 0.001). The most cited patents were in biocompatible intraocular implants and implantable controlled-release drug delivery systems, which underscores particular advancement in therapeutic efficacy and safety in devices used in the treatment and management of common yet debilitating eye conditions. Conclusion: This exploratory analysis reveals hotspots for ophthalmology-related innovation in the United States that may predict current and future growth trends in device development and pharmacologic advancement in ophthalmology, paving the way for more diverse and effective treatment options for preserving vision.

Rapid Office-Based Diagnosis of Demodex Using an Innovative Smartphone-Aided Intraocular Lens Tool

ABSTRACT

Demodex is an important pathogen causing eyelid and eyelash diseases. This article describes a quick, efficient, cost-effective office-based imaging of demodex with the help of an intraocular lens (IOL) and smartphone-aided innovated tool. Eyelid photography of a 56-year-old man with suspected demodex infestation was obtained using a 20-diopter (D) IOL over the smartphone camera called as Anterior Segment Photography using IOL (ASPI). A video or photograph of the epilated eyelash was taken using four 30-D IOLs attached to the smartphone camera to form an optical system called IOLSCOPE, which clearly detected the demodex parasite. The importance of ASPI and IOLSCOPE for the rapid office-based diagnosis of demodex pathogen in peripheral health centers devoid of slitlamp and microscopes has been emphasized here.

Slit-lamp based intraocular lens microscope - A novel technique of rapid office-based microscopy

The emergence of smartphone-based imaging devices has been a boon in the field of ophthalmology, especially in obtaining high-quality ocular images. They can be specialized and utilized for imaging-specific regions of the eye. Among the multitude of applications of smartphone-based imaging, one of the upcoming major use is to image the microbiological world. Previous few reports have described attaching magnifying lenses of various types to the smartphone camera and transforming it into a microscope for imaging fungal hyphae and ocular surface parasites. We describe a novel technique of attaching the smartphone-based intraocular lens microscope (IOLSCOPE) to the slit lamp, thereby utilizing the slit lamp joystick for moving the smartphone over the concerned slide specimen to make it steady and obtain images of high resolution. This innovative do-it-yourself novel modification is especially useful in peripheral centers, vision centers, and local clinics for immediate screening and identification of microbial pathogens such as fungi and ocular surface parasites.

Office-Based Rapid Diagnosis and Management of External Ophthalmomyiasis Via Smartphone-Aided Innovative Tools in an Under-Resourced Setting

PURPOSE

To evaluate the use of smartphone-based innovative tools named Anterior segment photography with intraocular lens (ASPI) and smartphone based intraocular lens microscope (IOLSCOPE) to demonstrate, treat, and diagnose the patients of ophthalmomyiasis caused by Oestrus ovis.

METHODS

A retrospective interventional case series of six patients infested with O. ovis presenting in a rural health center with symptoms of burning, itching, watering, and foreign body sensation diagnosed with ophthalmomyiasis. Diagnosis and treatment were performed using an innovative imaging technique that is, an optical system formed by intraocular lens (IOL) and smartphone.

RESULTS

The smartphone-based ASPI clearly detected and removed the moving larvae from the ocular surface, followed by microbiological diagnosis of O.ovis larvae with the help of an IOLSCOPE.

CONCLUSION

The importance of ASPI and IOLSCOPE for the management of ophthalmomyiasis in peripheral health centers devoid of slitlamp and microscopes has been emphasized here.

Innovative intra-operative rapid detection test for visualisation of mucor

In this manuscript, we report a rapid intra-operative detection test for visualisation of mucor, with the use of the Smartphone-based intraocular lens microscope (IOLSCOPE). IOLSCOPE helps not only in detecting tissue affected by mucor, but also makes sure that the surgeon does not leave any fungus behind; similar to the principles employed by a 'Frozen section' in conventional general surgery. In the technique proposed by us, we have used an undigested tissue sample, to quickly diagnose mucor, intra-operatively. Thus, in view of tackling the COVID-19 and mucor duplet, IOLSCOPE can be considered by ophthalmologists and otorhinolaryngologists for its rapid screening property, convenience of ease, good quality images and cost effectiveness.

Foldscope: A smartphone based diagnostic tool for fungal keratitis

Purpose:

Smartphone-based microscopy tool like foldscope (FS) may serve the purpose of a low-cost diagnostic alternative to the compound light microscope especially in areas with limited resources. The purpose of this study was to detect fungal pathogens causing keratitis on direct smear by smartphone-mounted FS and to evaluate the efficacy of FS against routine compound light microscope (CLM).

Methods:

The prospective study was conducted at a tertiary eye care center from September 2019 to March 2020. The study included 60 smear examinations (Gram stain [GM] n = 30, Lactophenol Cotton Blue [LCB] n = 30) to detect fungal pathogens from corneal scraping material of clinically suspected fungal keratitis (FK) cases. The diagnostic utility of FS was compared with CLM for both GM and LCB wet mount. Data collected were used to quantify the agreement using Cohen’s kappa between CLM and FS imaging.

Results:

Forty-six samples out of 60 were positive for fungi using CLM. GM stain and LCB showed 22/30 (73.33%) and 24/30 (80%) positive results with CLM, respectively. Moderate agreement (0.49) was observed between CLM and FS with the smartphone method. LCB mount showed high specificity of 1.00 over 0.87 of GM stain for FS with the smartphone.

Conclusion:

Direct smear can be an early and sensitive measure to diagnose FK other than clinical suspicion. The smartphone-mounted FS has limited sensitivity as an alternative to CLM, but excellent specificity in the present study for FK. The FS as a smartphone-based diagnostic tool is simple, portable, and inexpensive in resource-constrained rural or remote clinical and public health settings in the absence of CLM and other higher diagnostic modalities.