A study conducted by Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) in the US has shown that telemedicine can accurately and effectively detect a rare type of eye disease that causes blindness in premature babies.
Called retinopathy of prematurity (ROP), the condition is due to abnormal growth of blood vessels near the retina, leading to blindness in around 400 to 600 babies per year in the US.
Researchers believe that the new digital approach can allow appropriate treatment to prevent blindness in infants born in areas with few ophthalmologists trained to identify ROP.