ArticleEye (London, England)2023
A smartphone lens attachment improves the quality of referrals to eye casualty.
Article in Eye (London, England), 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed, 3 citations in OpenAlex.
- Digital Anterior Segment Photography in Clinical Practice: Mixed Methods Study.JMIR formative research · 2026Article
- Assessing patient satisfaction and outcomes from the newly established virtual oculoplastic photography (VOP) clinic in a secondary care centre.Eye (London, England) · 2025Article
- Telemedicine for Cornea and External Disease: A Scoping Review of Imaging Devices.Ophthalmology and therapy · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
BACKGROUND/
objectivesIn recent years, eye casualty clinics have seen significant increases in patient numbers with reduced capacity. COVID-19 has exacerbated this issue and demonstrated the potential of telemedicine as a solution. Our study evaluated the potential benefit of a smartphone-based lens attachment to improve the referral pathway for anterior segment related complaints in eye casualty. SUBJECTS/
methodsFifty-four consecutive patients with anterior segment complaints were recruited. A questionnaire was completed with each patient to simulate the history from the point of referral. White light and cobalt blue photos were captured using a smartphone lens. The clinician reviewing the patient was asked to document the actual diagnosis and the appropriate time-frame within which they felt the patient could safely have been seen within; both with and without the option of management advice at the time of triage. The subsequent images and questionnaires were reviewed by a single consultant Ophthalmologist who was independent to the data collection process. The assessor was asked to make a diagnosis and management plan based upon the questionnaire ('History'), and the questionnaire with the photo ('History with Image'), as well as rate their clinical confidence on a 1-5 scale.
resultsDiagnostic accuracy was significantly higher in "History with Image" (98.2%), when compared to "History" only (48.2%). "History with Image" prevented significantly more appointments when compared to "History" alone, at similar levels to retrospective clinic review. Preventable appointments were increased if clinical advice was possible. Timeframe of appointments between 'History with Image' and 'Clinic' appointments was similar. Clinical'Confidence was significantly higher at 4.5 with 'History with Image' when compared to 2.37 with 'History Only'.
conclusionA low-cost smartphone lens attachment, alongside a standardised clinical questionnaire, can improve the referral pathway to the hospital eye service by reducing unnecessary appointments, while improving clinical confidence and diagnostic accuracy during triage. Further work to evaluate referral pathways, including the development of systems that allow for secure image transmission are needed to understand the feasibility for the widespread adoption of this technology.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.