Open-angle glaucoma (OAG) may be characterized as glaucomatous optic neuropathy (GON) possibly with glaucomatous visual field loss (GVFL), after exclusion of angleclosure and secondary glaucoma. It is a progressive disease that has substantial impact on the daily functioning of people.

Many patients with diabetes do not receive the recommended annual dilated examination by an eye care professional. Because these patients visit their primary care physician regularly, a retinal risk assessment in the primary care setting could improve the screening rate for diabetic retinopathy.

Approximately 50% of patients with diabetes in the United States do not undergo recommended ocular evaluations for diabetic retinopathy. The DigiScope (EyeTel Imaging, Inc., Columbia, MD) was developed as a cost-effective and practical telemedicine digital imaging system to screen for diabetic retinopathy in the primary care physician’s (PCP) office.

Reflectance spectra from discrete sites in the human ocular fundus were measured with an experimental reflectometer in the visible and near-infrared parts of the spectrum. The principal study population consisted of ten subjects 22 to 38 years of age withba wide range of degree of fundus melanin pigmentation.

The objective of this pilot study was to determine whether a new screening system, the DigiScope (EyeTel Imaging, Inc., Columbia, MD), can detect the presence of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) at a level requiring referral to an ophthalmologist for further evaluation and possible treatment.