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| LETTER TO THE EDITOR |
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| Year : 2020 | Volume
: 68
| Issue : 7 | Page : 1492 |
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Smartphone assisted slit lamp evaluation during the COVID-19 pandemic
Sourav Damodaran, Naresh Babu, Dhipak Arthur
Department of Vitreoretina Services, Aravind Eye Hospital and Postgraduate Institute of Ophthalmology, Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India
| Date of Web Publication | 25-Jun-2020 |
Correspondence Address:
Dr. Sourav Damodaran
Admin Office, Aravind Eye Hospital, Anna Nagar, Maduari - 625 020, Tamil Nadu
India
 Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None  | Check |
DOI: 10.4103/ijo.IJO_1653_20
How to cite this article:
Damodaran S, Babu N, Arthur D. Smartphone assisted slit lamp evaluation during the COVID-19 pandemic. Indian J Ophthalmol 2020;68:1492 |
Dear Editor:
Novel corona virus pandemic has become a major health issue faced by us in 2020. There has been a substantial reduction in outpatient visits and elective surgeries in the field of ophthalmology. Multiple safe practice protocols have been developed by various organizations.[1] We describe a slit lamp modification that enhances safety during patient evaluation [Figure 1]. | Figure 1: (a) Normal Slit lamp evaluation-HCW in close proximity to patient. (b)Smartphone attached to slit lamp. (c)Smartphone and Viewing screen connected to same local network. (d)Smart slitlamp allowing evaluation of patient from a distance more than conventional method
Click here to view |
Slit lamp evaluation is one of the most inevitable examinations in ophthalmology, but the distance between the patient and the examiner is lesser than 1 meter (6 feet). Smartphone-assisted slit lamp photography, using adaptors, has gained popularity in recent times.[2] The smartphone is connected to the slitlamp using an adaptor. An android/ios application that converts a smartphone to a IP camera (It can acquire images and transfer in local network) is downloaded from playstore/appstore.[3] Now the viewing screen (laptop or desktop) and smartphone are connected to the same WLAN). The application is launched; auto-generated IP address is copied to the browser in the viewing screen. The examiner just needs to operate the joystick of the slitlamp and can view live images on the screen. This modification allows the examiner to be more than 1 meter from the patient, thus avoiding possible aerosol mediated infection.
This simple modification can help us continue our routine OPD, simultaneously taking care of the aspect maintaining safe distance with the patient.
Financial support and sponsorship
Nil.
Conflicts of interest
There are no conflicts of interest.
Acknowledgement
I thank Dr Piyush Kohli for his assistance
| References | |  |
| 1. | Sengupta S, Honavar SG, Sachdev MS, Sharma N, Kumar A, Ram J, et al. All India Ophthalmological Society – Indian Journal of Ophthalmology consensus statement on preferred practices during the COVID-19 pandemic. Indian J Ophthalmol 2020;68:711-24.  [ PUBMED] [Full text] |
| 2. | Myung D, Jais A, He L, Chang R. Simple, low-cost smartphone adapter for rapid, high quality ocular anterior segment imaging: A photo diary. J Mob Technol Med 2014;3:2-8. |
| 3. | |
[Figure 1]
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