Panacea Journal of Medical Sciences

Use of consumer digital camera for screening amblyogenic risk factors in children

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Article Type : Null

Author Details: Khandelwal R, Tamhane A, Khandelwal R

Volume : 5

Issue : 1

Online ISSN : 2348-7682

Print ISSN : 2249-8176

Article First Page : 24

Article End Page : 28

Abstract

Amblyopia is one of the major causes of childhood blindness. Screening of all pre-school children for refractive errors and strabismus is important to detect amblyopia and prevent a child from losing his/her eyesight permanently. We evaluated the efficacy of Canon Powershot SX-260 HS digital camera as an amblyopia screener for identifying amblyogenic risk factors. We obtained Bruckner reflex photographs using consumer digital camera. There were 77 subjects, 42 were amblyopes and 35 were diagnosed to be normal. Of the 42 subjects, 23(55%) were strabismic amblyopes and 19(45%) were anisometric amblyopes. Overall mean sensitivity of was 95% for all amblyopes, 82% for strabismic and 83% for anisometric amblyopes. The specificity was found to be 94% for all amblyopes, 87% for strabismic and 88% for anisometric amblyopes. The consumer digital camera appears to be a simple, quick and feasible option to screen for amblyogenic risk factors. It is easy to interpret by not only the ophthalmologists but by students and paramedical staff.

Keywords: Amblyopia, Childhood blindness, Digital camera, Strabismus, Anisometropia.

Doi No:-10.18231