Telemedicine Program Targets Infant Blindness
From: Wired News - 06/20/2006
By: Michael D. O'Neill

Organizers of a telemedicine program run by Stanford University hope the
technology can save the vision of infants born with Retinopathy of
Prematurity (ROP), a condition that affects 80,000 babies each year and
blinds about 600 of them. Evaluation by a qualified doctor is key to
diagnosing the condition and treating it properly, which can prevent
blindness. The number of doctors who specialize in ROP is dwindling, however,
stretching thin those who can identify and treat it. With the Stanford
University Network for the Diagnosis of ROP (SUNDROP), digital imaging allows
doctors to examine patients remotely, thereby greatly improving their chances
of keeping their sight. Using the technology, doctors can correctly diagnose
about 92 percent of the cases diagnosed by doctors who perform in-person
examinations. Professor Darius Moshfeghi led development of SUNDROP, which
has allowed him to spend significantly less time traveling to see patients in
person, leaving much more time for evaluating infants for the condition. 

Read the entire article at:
http://www.wired.com/news/technology/medtech/0,71041-0.html

Links:
SUNDROP Helps Reduce Infant Blindness
http://paxalles.blogs.com/paxalles/2006/06/sundrop_helps_r.html

Diagnosing kids at risk of blindness
http://www.lpch.org/newsEvents/NewsReleases/2006/moshfeghi.html

Darius Moshfeghi, MD
http://www.lpch.org/findADoctor/search/doc.pl?doc=18650&resultSet=18650

