Drs Ben O’Keeffe and (online from Dunedin) Sheng Chiong Hong demonstrating live telehealth retinal scans

Six months after being named as winners of the Spark 5G Starter Fund, Objective Acuity and oDocs Eye Care were invited to Spark’s Auckland headquarters to offer media a first glimpse of the positive outcomes 5G can bring to eye health in New Zealand.

Using 5G, oDocs has developed a secure and encrypted live tele-ophthalmology platform that connects healthcare professionals to patients in remote regions. “We simply wouldn’t be able to get the speed or the image quality we need without 5G,” said oDocs’ co-founder Dr Ben O’Keeffe. “The win has enabled oDocs to continue to invest in our ophthalmology platform, employ full-time chief technology officer Glenn Linde, hire an additional developer and obtain advice on health data privacy requirements.”

Currently being trialled, oDocs’ tele-ophthalmology platform is expected to be launched in early 2022. “GPs and optometrists are starting to see the benefits of the system; it streamlines everything, reduces wait times and thereby improves health outcomes,” said Dr O’Keeffe.

Using artificial intelligence (AI), oDocs hopes to empower all clinicians, including non-experts, to perform live-stream consultations for triaging and referrals to ophthalmologists, said Dr O’Keeffe. “This will further reduce waiting lists for screening and follow-up and improve the management of the eyecare workforce.”

Adam Podmore sharing Objective Acuity's 5G advances

Objective Acuity’s vision-screening test, which detects involuntary eye movements, is in the final stage of a clinical trial in the US that includes 200 children aged three to six years. “It’s on track for launch late 2021 in New Zealand and the US,” said CEO Adam Podmore.

The Spark 5G win has enabled the team to further improve accuracy and make testing up to seven times more efficient, delivering real-time results (down from 30 seconds to five), he said. “The next part of our 5G journey is to develop the framework that can process and upload our high-definition videos to develop AI intelligence to detect the specific eye movement that we’re looking for. That’s going to be really exciting for our company.”

Objective Acuity, oDocs Eye Care, robotics company Rocos and VR gaming creator Beyond were equal recipients of a share of the $625,000 award plus technology support from Spark.

For more, see https://eyeonoptics.co.nz/articles/archive/eye-health-win-from-5g-starter-fund/