Stanford Medical Center's Telemedicine Program for Detecting Eye Disease, Enabled by RetCam Technology, Seen as Potential Model for Chinese Health Care Efforts
PLEASANTON, CA, May 28, 2007 – Today in the United States, many babies routinely undergo high-tech evaluation for retinopathy of prematurity, a potentially blinding eye disease that affects premature infants, thanks to the use of the RetCam, Clarity's first-of-its-kind digital imaging system. Now the RetCam is helping to bring the promise of better ROP screening to Chinese infants, as well.
Premature birth is a growing problem in China, as it is in Western countries. Of the 20 million Chinese babies born annually, approximately 6% are born prematurely. This means that as many as 1 million babies are at risk for ROP. Little attention had been paid to the problem until 2004, when the Chinese Ministry of Health issued its first-ever guidelines for prevention of ROP. In the 3 years since, awareness of the disease has increased significantly and ROP has become a growing concern among Chinese eye specialists.
In April, Dr. Darius Moshfeghi, a pediatric retinal specialist at Stanford Medical Center, presented to Chinese physicians his institution's experience using a remote screening model to evaluate preemies for ROP. Dr. Moshfeghi is responsible for establishing one of the first and the largest U.S. telemedicine screening network for ROP. Called the Stanford University Network for Diagnosis of ROP (SUNDROP), the program allows babies at distant local hospitals to be screened by an ROP expert at Stanford without the need to transfer the infants to the medical center. In this program, staff in the neonatal intensive care unit obtains digital images of the infants' eyes using Clarity's RetCam system. These images are then electronically transmitted to Stanford for remote evaluation.
"A telemedicine approach is ideal to address the wide gap in services for ROP screening in countries such as China," Dr. Moshfeghi noted, speaking at the Congress of the Chinese Ocular Fundus Disease Society (CCOFDS) and Congress of Asian-Pacific Vitreo-Retina Society (CAPVRS), the largest retinal specialty meeting in China. "It allows babies in far flung and isolated regions of the country to benefit from expertise centered in major urban medical centers. Without this option, these babies would almost certainly be denied access to appropriate care."
To build a presence in the Chinese market, Clarity has partnered with Hwa-In, one of the largest medical technology distributors in China. Interest in the RetCam has been increasing rapidly, with a growing number of systems in use around the country.
About Clarity Medical Systems (www.claritymsi.com)
Clarity Medical Systems is a privately held medical technology company that develops, manufactures and markets integrated optical systems and services to enhance the clinician's ability to diagnose, evaluate and treat eye disorders. The company’s patented devices combine innovative optical, electronic and information technologies that change the very nature of how eye healthcare is delivered. Clarity’s flagship product is the RetCam™ II Digital Imaging system, which has revolutionized the standard of ophthalmologic evaluation in infants and children. The RetCam is being used by leading medical centers worldwide, including the foremost U.S. children’s hospitals. Clarity is also developing a full line of advanced products and services for adult eye healthcare. The company expects to introduce the first of these offerings at the end of 2007.