Research that will allow the production of a low cost, high quality eye screening system that will facilitate significantly greater areas of screening in rural and regional Australia has been awarded the Victorian Government Inspiration Award at the national iAwards information and communications technology event.

 

The technology, called Remote-i, took out the award which was presented by the Governor of Victoria, Alex Chernov.

 

Remote-i, which was developed by a team of CSIRO ICT specialists, circumvents the traditional barriers to ubiquitous eye care by ensuring that patients no longer need to make their way to a metropolitan or urban area for specialist eye care.

 

The technology includes:

  • a web-based system that captures images from an easy-to-use camera and sends them to a central server
  • an offline system for data collection in areas with no immediate Internet connection
  • an automated system to analyse captured images and support decision making by screening staff and medical specialists
  • security and encryption techniques for transmission of patient data.

 

“Our ophthalmology technology team, led by Dr Yogi Kanagasingam, is part of CSIRO’s Preventative Health Flagship. Remote-i is already helping people in WA’s Pilbara region and is a prime example of the technologies that are possible once Australia has a broadband network,” said Dr Ian Oppermann, Director of CSIRO’s ICT Centre.