Learn About PEEK and Maybe Help Prevent Blindness

December 10, 2014 – The world of smartphone apps continues to be a source of disruptive innovation. PEEK stands for Portable Eye Examination Kit. It is a combination of adapter that can clipped on a smartphone and a number of apps that can deliver a professional eye examinations using portable technology that produces results equal to high-priced ophthalmoscopes and retinal cameras.

Not designed for you to use in self-diagnosis, it is a field tool for medical professionals to deliver comprehensive eye examinations anywhere in the world. On the project website the developers talk about the 39 million estimated who are blind. But that understates the global problem because according to Dr. Oleg Chestnov, Assistant Director-General, Noncommunicable Diseases and Mental Health, World Health Organization (WHO), the total number of visually impaired based on 2010 global estimates equals 285 million.

Of those suffering from eye impairment 80% are deemed preventable or curable. What’s missing, the provision of effective, accessible eye care services.

Chestnov states in the preface to WHO’s Eye Action Plan 2014-2019, that two-thirds of visually impaired people would recover good eyesight if eye health providers delivered on two issues: accessible eye exams and cataract surgery. With PEEK in the field, the first of these two, accessible eye exams should no longer be an issue. PEEK will make it possible to bring best medical practice to the field running on a wide range of smartphones including popular Apple, Samsung, HTC and Sony models.

In total these apps along with the camera adapter will deliver the equivalent to the best eye examinations one would get from an ophthamologist. The enormous cost saving, portability and accessibility will bring the promise of meeting WHO objectives of delivering universal eye examinations to reality.

With the PEEK retinal camera and apps eye doctors anywhere will be able to diagnose:

• cataracts
• glaucoma
• diabetic retinopathy
• macular degeneration
• and eye symptoms present in the retina that indicate the presence of invasive agents for malaria, meningitis and other tropical diseases.

PEEK is currently raising funds through pledges on Indiegogo, the crowdfunding site. Its goal is to raise 70,000 British pounds. So far it has achieved 87% of its target with 31 days to go in the fundraising campaign. You can help them get over the top with a pledge of one pound or more. A 60 pound pledge will deliver the PEEK retinal camera and apps to one healthcare worker with Medecins Sans Frontieres or the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness.

PEEK’s goal is to have first units on the market by October 2015. Right now they are ramping up for production and are seeking certification through regulatory bodies in the U.S., European Union and other national health agencies.