Technology speeds eye screening

New screening technology is making it faster to identify vision problems, allowing eye specialists to assess thousands of people across Fiji in just seconds.

The technology is being used during a week-long free eye screening campaign led by Sai Prema Foundation Fiji and Shri Sathya Sai Sanjeevani Medical Centre and Hospital.

The team, led by Dr Nitin Shah of the Anekant Community Centre in the United States, says children can be screened in as little as five to 10 seconds, while adult screenings take around 15 to 20 seconds.

He says this allows specialists to screen large numbers of people in a short time and identify those who may otherwise go without vision correction.

“The machine requires a dark room, and it’s simple. This machine’s principle is going through the pupils and looking at the eye and telling whether the person needs eyeglasses or not and if there are some associated conditions and for that, the larger the pupil, the faster it works. So once it’s dark, our pupils dilate, it becomes big. So that’s the purpose of the dark, and if you bring light and use the machine, it probably won’t even work. So they go into the dark room. In children, it will take literally 5-10 seconds. In adults, 15-20 seconds. It will give a prescription. Now, a prescription doesn’t mean that everybody needs glasses.”

He adds that more than 44,000 children have been screened across 83 schools, while hundreds of adults have also accessed free community screening.

He says those identified with simple vision problems are provided with ready-made spectacles, while people requiring complex prescriptions are referred to optometrists.

Dr Shah says the technology is helping eye specialists reach more people and ensure vision problems are identified earlier.