A new smartphone camera adapter for retinal imaging, aimed at reducing avoidable blindness, enables images to be taken and shared quickly without the need for a bulky, expensive desktop retinal camera.
Known as Peek Retina, and developed by the social impact enterprise Peek, the device clips over the camera on any smartphone, and is reportedly intuitive and easy to use, enabling examination of the optic nerve and macula.The Peek team believes Peek Retina can make a significant impact on avoidable blindness by removing barriers to access and enabling new examinations to be performed.
Peek is motivated by making an impact and being sustainable rather than making profits. Funding comes from a range of sources including grants, donors and through a successful crowdfunding campaign to enable the design and manufacture of Peek Retina. The adapter is being sold as a medical device by Peek’s trading arm (Peek Vision Ltd) with profits going to The Peek Vision Foundation, the charitable organisation which owns Peek.
Peek Retina was unveiled at an event at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Peek is a spin out from the School and they continue to work closely together as partners to enhance both organisations’ impact through knowledge transfer, research and innovation. The school’s Director, Professor Peter Piot, said, “We are delighted to be working with Peek. It is a brilliant example of the power of innovation, partnership and knowledge transfer to create solutions that maximise impact for the people who will benefit the most. We look forward to achieving even more together through our linked research and education programmes.”
Peek Retina is available via www.peekvision.org. Peek has called on users and supporters to give as much feedback as possible so it can be further improved.
