Smartphone App Can Help Detect Rare Eye Disorders

By using a free smartphone application, parents may be able to identify photographic leukocoria in children.

The application—(CRADLE: ComputeR-Assisted Detector of LEukocoria)—scans casual photographs and detects leukocoria.

A study to determine the sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of the application included 20 children with retinoblastoma, Coats’ disease, cataract, amblyopia, or hyperopia as well as 20 children who acted as the control group.

The application was able to detect leukocoria in photographs taken before diagnosis by 1.3 years (95% confidence interval, 0.4 to 2.3 years in 80% of children with eye disorders.

Read the study here.

Reference

Munson MC, Plewman DL, Baumer KM, et al. Autonomous early detection of eye disease in childhood photographs. Science Advances. 2019;5(10):eaax6363. DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aax6363