Remote grading of retinal images feasible, study finds

Patients and health care professionals using a telemedicine-based system to screen for diabetic retinopathy found the process satisfactory, according to a study. Equally important, remote graders were able to assess 99% of the images transmitted to them via the telemedicine system, the study found.

Using the Tele-Ophthalmological Services in Citizen-centered Applications (TOSCA) system, S. Luzio and colleagues took two digital images per eye of 390 patients 12 years and older who had diabetes. The macular and nasal images were then exported to a central server where accredited graders carried out grading remotely, and the results were reported back to the referring center. A retinopathy grade was assigned to each patient. Average time taken to grade each patient was 5 minutes.

Only 6% of patients responding said they would not recommend the procedure, and health care professionals too were satisfied with the overall procedure, according to the researchers.

The study is published in Diabetic Medicine.