Week in review: Tactile braille display, corneal ulcer detection, pediatric ophthalmologists’ pain

A weekly roundup of ophthalmic news from around the web.

Tactile braille on a mobile device is now a reality. People with visual disabilities who use an iPhone or iPad will soon have access to a tactile braille display called DotPad, developed by the South Korean startup Dot Inc. It is compatible with Apple’s VoiceOver reader, and early adopters and developer communities can access it on the Dot website. In announcing the release of DotPad, Dot cofounder Eric Ju Yoon Kim said, “We are very excited that Dot's tactile technology is now optimized for VoiceOver, and that this will expand digital accessibility. Beyond speech or literary braille, these users can now feel and improve their understanding of images.” No information was made available as to whether an Android-based version is in development. MobiHealthNews, Dot Inc.

NEI awards grant to researchers to develop a portable corneal ulcer detection device. Current methods for diagnosing and detecting corneal ulcers, which affect about 4.3 million people globally each year, are costly and not easily accessible by those living in rural or less-developed areas. Assistant Professor Dongkyun “DK” Kang of the University of Arizona’s BIO5 Institute has received a $1 million grant from the National Eye Institute (NEI) to develop, in collaboration with Dr. Jaya Chidambaram at the University of Manchester, a new portable in vivo confocal ophthalmoscope (PICO) for corneal ulcer detection. Because PICO takes about 2 minutes to make a diagnosis, Dr. Kang believes that PICO “will be adopted as a standard corneal imaging tool, and its availability in a wide range of health care settings will fundamentally improve eye care worldwide.” University of Arizona

Is being a pediatric ophthalmologist a literal pain in the neck? Musculoskeletal disease (MSD), particularly neck and back pain, is a common work-related condition for ophthalmologists, but to date no specific research had been done on the rates of MSD among pediatric ophthalmologists. A survey was sent to approximately 1000 members of pediatric ophthalmology listservs worldwide during summer 2019; 101 responses were received. Two-thirds of respondents reported chronic pain, with the main MSD complaints being neck pain (41%), lower back pain (31%), and shoulder pain (30%). The likelihood of having MSD increased with the number of years in practice and number of hours worked per week, particularly when the use of a surgical loupe was involved. The authors conclude that more ergonomically friendly ophthalmic tools are needed. Clinical Ophthalmology