A GP screening diabetic patients using oDocs Eye Care’s Nun ophthalmoscope diagnosed diabetic retinopathy (DR) with 90% sensitivity and diabetic macular oedema (DMO) with 20% sensitivity.
Led by Dr Dhaivat Shah, Department of Ophthalmology, Choithram Netralaya, India, the 2021 study of 47 diabetic patients (94 eyes) used the Nun fundus camera, developed by New Zealand’s oDocs, paired with a smartphone adaptor. The camera offers 45° retinal images with a 6mm dilated pupil. In preparation for screening, the GP was given four hours of didactic lecture and a set of retinal images both with and without DR. Following GP screening, a vitreoretinal consultant clinically graded eyes using indirect ophthalmoscopy, slit-lamp biomicroscopy and optical coherence tomography (OCT).
Cohen’s kappa values revealed that the diagnosis of DR status made using the Nun was in substantial agreement (0.770) with the clinical diagnosis, while DMO diagnosis moderately agreed (0.410). The authors concluded that this latter level of agreement was not acceptable, indicating that GP utility of the device should be restricted to identification of referable DR but not for severity grading.
