Orbis launches BOOST app in collaboration with partners

BOOST (Better Operative Outcomes Software Tool) is a simple, free and easy-to-use app designed to help monitor and improve cataract surgical outcomes. It is developed in partnership with Fred Hollows, Sightsavers, The International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness, The International Council of Ophthalmology and Standard Chartered's Seeing is Believing project.

The BOOST app takes eye care professionals through a step-by-step process to measure and analyze results by providing access to data in similar cases and making suggestions to correct issues and identify risks.

Un-operated cataract remains the world’s leading cause of vision loss accounting for around 35% of global blindness. Even when there is a surgical intervention, follow-up consultation rates are low due to the time, distance and cost involved in visiting hospital for many patients. It is therefore often difficult to know whether the surgery has been a success.

The app followed a discovery which showed that testing vision immediately after an operation is a good way of measuring the quality of the surgery.

BOOST allows surgeons to analyzes results the following day then bench mark them against other users around the world. It can therefore identify cases where the chances of success are low and also suggests strategies to improve surgical quality where results are poor.

You can find out more by visiting the BOOST website here.

We are always looking for ways to use the latest technology to help reach more people and improve the quality of our training. While the sector has been making good progress since the 1990s, reducing the prevalence of avoidable blindness from 4.58% to 3.37% in 2015, an aging global population and the risk of a diabetes explosion on the horizon global blindness is still set to triple by 2050. Using the latest technological advancements is one of the ways we can reverse this trend.

Here are some of the other ways we're using technology to help reach more people than ever before.

Cybersight

Cybersight is our award-winning telemedicine platform. Through Cybersight, our expert volunteers teach and support eye care teams around the world using the latest advancements in internet and mobile technologies. Cyberight increases our ability to provide training and support to medical professionals all around the world. With Cybersight, we can make an impact in places where a physical presence simply isn't possible due to cost, logistics or security. We are now looking into ways to use the latest VR technology to help improve surgical outcomes.

Flying Eye Hospital

The Flying Eye Hospital is not only packed with the latest medical equipment, it has some of the very latest training facilities, too. The entire plane is linked up through an advanced audio visual system, meaning those in the classroom can watch surgeries happening in the operating theater live in 3D - making it as close to the real thing as looking down the microscope yourself.

Mobile Simulation Center

The simulation center on board the Flying Eye Hospital allows local eye teams to learn complex skills in a controlled environment before operating on patients. It breaks down a complex surgery into smaller parts allowing local doctors to focus on a certain skill—something you can’t do with a human eye.

REACHsoft

As part of our REACH model (Refractive Error Among Children) we developed REACHsoft. REACHSoft supports every step of the program: developing the school database, scheduling planning and delivering services, collecting data (primary screening, detailed examination, spectacle prescription and dispensing, referral management) as well as monitoring progress and generating reports to aid management of the program.