Camera cuts screening cost

A new low cost laser scanning digital camera devised at the Indiana School of Optometry could help to revolutionise the accuracy of diabetic screening.

By reducing the cost of the motor used to scan the retina, the camera will allow accessible high resolution and high contrast screening at a cost affordable to most projects.

'No matter how high the resolution of an image, pathology in diabetic retinopathy can be missed if the contrast is not there,' explained research director Dr Ann Elsner. The device, expected to cost around a quarter the price of current laser ophthalmoscopes, is likely to be released later this year.