In October of last year, the NGO Médicos da Amazônia undertook a mission with a special objective: to provide complete, free eye care to approximately 500 indigenous people from the Marmelos Village, in Amazonas.

The NGO offers health acess to Brazilian indigenous communities through specialized care, modern and advanced techniques and equipment, and highly trained professional, always respecting the ancestry of their cultures and values. Since its foundation, in 2015, it has carried out more than 64 thousand medical and dental consultations and procedures.

To document the patients’ fundus and anterior segment, the voluteer medical team used the Phelcom Eyer smartdevice. The device works in conjuction with a smartphone and performs high-quality retinal examinations in a few minutes without the need for pupil dilation. As it is integrated with the clooud, it automatically males the data available on the Eyercloud online platform for analysis by a specialist anywhere. In other words, it enables remote diagnosis.

“As well as being portable and not needing internet at the time of the examination, Eyer optimizes care and does all the documentation for patients, wich allows them to be followed up correctly. This is essential for any action in remote areas”, says ophthalmologist Jade Fernandes de Melo, one of the project’s volunteers.

The main retinal diseases diagnosed by the NGO were diabetic retinophaty, glaucoma, Age-related macular disease (AMD) and asteroid hyalosis, among others. The doctors also detected cataracts, refractive alterations and pterygium. The patients were referred to indigenous Health for treatment.

Melo evaluates the device as easy to use, self-taught, with excellent image quality and essential in primary care. “The Eyer can make a difference to many people’s lives by bringing ophthalmic access to remote communities with a lack of health infrastructure”, Melo believes.