Content Design and System Implementation of a Teleophthalmology System for Eye Disease Diagnosis and Treatment and Its Preliminary Practice in Guangdong, China.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: We have developed a new telemedicine system for comprehensive eye examination, diabetic retinopathy (DR) screening, and eye disease diagnosis and treatment. The novel points of the system include a tablet application for facilitating doctor's examination and diagnosis process, a comprehensive eye examination component, and integrated treatment planning and recording. METHODS: The system provided a new service model through one ophthalmological center linking with multiple remote and rural hospitals for eye care in Guangdong province, China. RESULTS: The early stage of the project study also undertook the responsibility of educations for remote-area doctors and image graders for DR grading and glaucoma grading and research on the effectiveness of short message service (SMS) reminder for patient revisit. Some other research, such as the comparison of the accuracy of graders' DR grading with the gold standard, and doctor's tentative diagnosis with final diagnosis and related statistical information, has been implemented in the system. In the preliminary practice, we summarized the outcomes related to presenting system performance and made an initial analysis. CONCLUSION: From the practice, the project has shown the telemedicine system and associated contents have satisfied our initial goal and demonstrated their effectiveness and efficiency.