Dunedin-based oDocs Eye Care has signed its first international partnership with Riyadh’s King Saud University, the biggest medical university in the Arab world.
The deal includes the company’s new smartphone ophthalmoscope and its AI platform MedicMind, said oDocs CEO Dr Sheng Chiong Hong, an ophthalmologist registrar at Dunedin hospital. Both will be used by the university for a connected population health project known as RAHAH. “This is an exciting trail-blazing project and a first for New Zealand. King Saud University will be integrating oDocs smartphone ophthalmoscope as a tool for telemedicine in the primary care sector. Then the university will use MedicMind to train and develop their own model for detection of diabetic retinopathy and a variety of other retinal diseases.”
Dr Hong says Saudi Arabia is also suffering from an ageing population and the increasing occurrence of chronic diseases such as diabetes. “A more sustainable solution can be achieved with proper planning and integration of technology.”
The deal also means a lot to oDocs as it will allow it to continue its research and development work and achieve its goal of supplying affordable eye care technologies to the world, he added.
