Utility and Feasibility of Teleophthalmology Using a Smartphone-Based Ophthalmic Camera in Screening Camps in Nepal

Teleophthalmology is widely recognized as a way to extend care to individuals over a larger region by leveraging limited physician availability and resources. This potential is especially important in low- and middle-income countries, where the imbalance between the prevalence of blindness and the number of practicing ophthalmologists is greatest. The XXX Institute of Ophthalmology (XXX) has established a satellite network of 16 community eye centers (CECs) that serve small to medium-sized cities and towns throughout the country. To reach patients in the most remote and isolated regions, ophthalmic technicians (OTs) from these CECs routinely organize and conduct screening camps in smaller nearby villages. They often see hundreds of patients in a day, screening primarily for operable cataracts.