Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP)
Preventing a lifetime of blindness in premature babies15 million premature babies are born worldwide
Prevention is worth a pound of cure
What is ROP?
Retinopathy of prematurity effects premature babies. If left untreated it will cause blindness for the rest of the child’s life.
What is it exactly? When a baby is prematurely born their bodies are not fully developed. Their eyes included. ROP happens when there is an abnormal development of retinal blood vessels on the retina.
If this problem is treated during the opportune window of 3 weeks or 3 months we can completely treat ROP and prevent the baby from suffering worse eye problems such as retinal detachment.
Catching Problems Early On
The “GEMROP” Project
In developing countries like India with few ROP specialists, ROP screening by an ophthalmic technician employing telemedicine seems to be a valuable and effective option to prevent ROP-related blindness.
The Problem
It is reported that over 3.5 million preterm infants are born in India annually. Improved neonatal care increased the survival of these preterm infants and hence increased the incidence of retinopathy of prematurity (ROP).
Screening
Under this project, ROP screening is done by a trained technician with a wide angled retinal camera. The images obtained are sent to a remote ROP specialist via the Internet. The treatment and follow-up protocols are determined by the remote ROP specialist. All the images are analyzed and classified according to International Classification of Retinopathy of Prematurity (ICROP) group guidelines.
The Solution
From the initiation of the project in 2015 till December 2021 we have screened 10736 babies and treated 856 babies in Andhra Pradesh. In addition, screened 2,125 babies and treated 310 in Kolkota during 2020 – 2021 and screened 304 babies and treated 9 babies in Nepal during 2021.
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