A device that diagnoses diabetic retinopathy in just one minute
A device that diagnoses diabetic retinopathy in just one minute
A team led by the researcher of the School of Medicine, Juan Contreras, created a technology that offers users to autonomously take an image of their retinas, which is sent to a specialist who can make the diagnosis in less than a minute. of diabetic retinopathy, one of the first causes of blindness globally. The device, unique in its kind, these days draws the last stage of an entrepreneurship contest, which could lead the team to Singularity University, the University of NASA, to continue with its development.
Working at CESFAM Cristo Vive en Recoleta (Chile), the internist doctor, doctor of Biomedical Sciences and academic of the Faculty of Medicine, Juan Contreras, noticed with amazement the number of blind diabetic patients who arrived at the place. "In that health center, which has links with the University of Chile, there were ophthalmology scholars and specialists, and I thought 'this is the place where this should not happen'", said the academic recalling the beginning of the origins of RetiDiag , the first autonomous diagnostic device for diabetic retinopathy worldwide.
"When I began to think about what happened in the rest of the health centers facing that particular disease, the situation was actually much worse," added the academic on the history of the project that uses technology and innovation in terms of information technology and of processes, to address a health problem where early diagnosis is key, and the lack of specialists, one of the great obstacles.
With this idea in mind, Dr. Contreras won a CORFO fund from Start-Up Chile, and together with the ophthalmologist, Benjamín Riesco, and a computer engineer, initially generated a device, which used by a medical technologist, allowed the diagnosis of the pathology, dispensing with an ophthalmologist for it. "The problem that arose with that, was that the management and logistics that means to mobilize a medical technologist, to different parts of the country," warned the academic.
RetiDiag is a device that allows users to autonomously take a photograph of their eyes, for the diagnosis of diabetic retinopathy, one of the main causes of blindness. (Photo: DICYT)
Then, the team went a step further, and last year the idea of inventing an autonomous device emerged, able to interact with the patient and take pictures of the retina, freeing itself from the need for an operator and a human assistant to be present to achieve that goal. After taking the image, a computer platform sends that sample to a specialist, who can evaluate it remotely and in less than a minute.
"That allows independent professionals to the place where they are and in fractions of time, which can be even non-productive periods, to evaluate patients who are from the public area. There we managed to connect the public need, with the availability of minutes that are released within all the professionals who are qualified to make diagnoses in Chile, regardless of where they are, "said one of the creators of RetiDiag, a development that has been with the work of a transdisciplinary team, which includes the psychologist Karin Sáez, the industrial civil engineer, Gerardo Lagos, the electronic civil engineer, Juan Peña, and the computer engineer, Juan Francisco del Solar.
With the development in hand, the team is currently in the last phase of the "Caja Los Andes Entrepreneur Talent Fund" (TECLA). If this contest is awarded, its members will travel to an internship at Singularity University, the university of Nasa, and access the largest private innovation fund in the country. For Contreras, this opportunity would definitely give a global focus to the project, "because usually in Chile and Latin America we would generate local solutions for our population and local reality, but these solutions are often of global impact and we do not visualize it that way. That's why that connection with that university and others is of vital importance to be able to give it that focus. "
In these moments, already as one of the finalists of the convocation, the vote to the public is open, reason why the specialist calls the interested ones to support the initiative here.
Diabetic retinopathy is a pathology that derives from diabetes type 1 and 2, and consists of damage to the blood vessels of the retina, the most important organ of the eye, in which the transformation of the energy of the eye takes place. light in nerve impulses that are transmitted to the brain.
With time and without proper care, patients suffering from this pathology can reach a detachment of the retina, which eventually can end in irreversible blindness.
Since it is a disease that does not cause symptoms in its early stages, specialists recommend periodic controls for its diagnosis in diabetic patients. "In order to reach timely treatment, an early diagnosis is necessary, and that is the main challenge," Dr. Contreras said, emphasizing the importance of a device like Retidiag in a country like Chile, where 12.3 percent of the population is suspected of diabetes according to the latest National Health Survey 2016-2017. (Source: UCHILE / DICYT)
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