i2i Telesolutions, an India-based start-up, is partnering with Narayana Nethralaya, an ophthalmology centre, to pilot a series of initiatives to detect and treat retinopathy of prematurity (RoP), it has been reported. RoP is a condition that affects nearly a tenth of the 27 million children born in India every year.
i2i has developed a software that links ophthalmologists at urban centres with patients in remote areas. In the 18 months since the company was set up, it has focused on developing technology that allows data transfer of medical images from ophthalmology to sonography. Using this technology, specialists at partner hospitals can diagnose potential birth defects in foetuses by screening pregnant mothers within the first 13 weeks.
The i2i platform requires trained technicians to take retinal photographs of the babies and upload them on the move to a secure remote server using a data card. From here, the photographs can be downloaded onto a phone or a regular computer to a specialist who diagnoses and provides corrective feedback within 15 minutes of the image being first uploaded.
Currently, this model has been adopted as part of the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) in the Indian states of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu with primary health centres across 23 districts having this capability.
According to experts, rapidly-expanding mobile phone networks is seen as one leg of the expansion for telemedicine, while a spurt in the use of hand-held medical devices with wireless capability could also drive this growth. These devises are expected to play a pivotal role in telemedicine.
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