Orbis and Nidek team up to fight vision loss with AI

Over the next three years, Nidek, an ophthalmic equipment manufacturer, will donate cameras as well as financial support to boost access to AI-assisted screenings at six eye health partners across three Vietnam provinces.

Nidek’s donation of specialized fundus cameras is set to support the screening of 72,000 patients – improving capacity to detect and promptly treat diabetic retinopathy, a potentially blinding disease that every person with diabetes is at risk of developing.

This is Nidek’s first-ever donation of fundus cameras to a non-profit, and the first time they will be leveraging Cybersight AI, in a daily screening setting.

Images taken of the back of the eye from Nidek’s superior desktop fundus cameras will be uploaded and graded by Cybersight AI, giving results within seconds. This allows patients the opportunity to be referred immediately for treatment, without first waiting days or even weeks for screening results that rely on human grading of the images.

Ngoc Pham, Country Director, Orbis Vietnam, says: “According to the Vietnam National Endocrinology Hospital, in the past 20 years, the prevalence of diabetes has increased from 2.7% of the population to 7.3% of the population, and this trend continues to grow. There are not enough trained medical professionals to meet the demand for eye screening for people living with diabetes. Cybersight AI and high-quality cameras will help ease the burden on medical facilities already at capacity by detecting diabetic retinopathy.”

Diabetic retinopathy is an eye disease that damages blood vessels in the retina (back of the eye) which effects approximately one in three people living with diabetes. If left untreated, it can lead to vision loss and blindness.

Diabetic retinopathy is one of the leading causes of blindness and vision loss in Vietnam. Ensuring more people with diabetes have access to early detection and intervention is key to saving sight for millions of people.

Our own peer-reviewed research from Rwanda shows the effectiveness of Cybersight AI. Studies suggest our bespoke tool leads to increased uptake of referral services and high levels of satisfaction AI has also been shown to be equally effective for children with diabetes as it is for adults.

We’d like to say a huge thank you to Nidek for their help expanding AI-led screenings in areas where it is needed most.

Top image: Dr. Nguyen Thi Minh Khuong tests a fundus camera with Dr. Doris Macharia at Tien Giang Central General Hospital, Vietnam, in 2022. The camera shown in the image is not the same one as the type Nidek is donating.