Smartphone Eye Examination: Artificial Intelligence and Telemedicine.

Area of Science:

• Ophthalmology
• Medical Technology
• Artificial Intelligence

Background:

• Recent advancements in telecommunications, photodocumentation, and AI have enabled new diagnostic tools.
• Smartphone-based eye examination is emerging as a promising technology for primary healthcare.
• This method democratizes the teaching of fundoscopy and aids in screening for blindness-causing diseases.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review the current use and future prospects of smartphone eye examination as a screening and diagnostic tool.
• To survey major published advances in retinal and anterior segment analysis using AI.
• To assess the diagnostic accuracy of smartphone ophthalmoscopy for prevalent eye diseases.

Main Methods:

• Electronic literature search on MEDLINE, EMBASE, and Cochrane Library.
• Inclusion of studies comparing smartphone ophthalmoscopy diagnostic accuracy against reference standards.
• Analysis of published advances in AI-driven retinal and anterior segment analysis.

Main Results:

• Smartphone eye examination is a safe, portable, low-cost, and reproducible method with encouraging results.
• High agreement between conventional and smartphone methods for detecting causes of blindness.
• Databases often lack complete metadata and sufficient images, posing challenges for real-world application.

Conclusions:

• Smartphone eye examination is a powerful tool for screening and early diagnosis of major causes of blindness.
• This technology can streamline medical workflows and benefit public health policies.
• It makes safe and quality eye assessments accessible to a wider population.