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Satellites are being used to detect eye diseases
Last reviewed: 02.07.2025
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Specialists from the CSIRO research agency (Australia) have developed a unique method that allows for remote analysis of the retina. A special system uploads the retina image to a cloud data storage using satellite communications. Then all the data can be analyzed by ophthalmologists regardless of where patients live.
The new diagnostic system helps prevent vision loss in patients who live far from central clinics and cannot undergo a full examination. The new technology has already been tested on almost a thousand people. Specialists, having analyzed the data of all patients, identified an increased risk of complete blindness in almost 70 of them.
In addition, experts have recently tested another diagnostic method that can detect a serious eye disease that leads to blindness – glaucoma.
At the University of London, specialists managed to identify several cases of the dangerous disease while participants in the experiment simply watched film excerpts. Specialists are confident that glaucoma can be detected by eye movements, and at early stages.
The experiment involved 76 people, 44 of whom had already been diagnosed with glaucoma.
First, the specialists checked the volunteers' vision and assessed the severity of the disease in patients with glaucoma.
Then the participants of the experiment had to watch several fragments from the films, while the scientists monitored the eye movements of the volunteers. As a result, the scientists were able to identify symptoms of a dangerous disease in some patients from the healthy group.
Experts note that detecting glaucoma at the initial stages of development allows preventing complete loss of vision. If the pathological process has already begun, then it is almost impossible to stop the disease. Researchers suggest that the new diagnostic method will allow detecting a dangerous eye disease at early stages, when the situation can still be corrected.
Another achievement in the field of ophthalmology was the invention of bionic lenses, which allow you to return 100% vision. The lenses are implanted into the eye with a special syringe in less than 10 minutes, after 10-15 seconds the lenses already take the necessary shape and begin to "work".
According to the developers, such lenses not only correct vision, but also contribute to its restoration. They are made of materials that are biologically compatible with the mucous membrane of the eye and do not lead to biophysical changes over time.
Recently, experts have been trying to develop ways to deliver drugs using lenses (for example, nanocapsules in the form of contact lenses that could replace eye drops in the future).
The new bionic lenses are completely transparent and have the appearance of a disk (1/10 the size of conventional lenses). However, despite their size, the lenses have shown good efficiency.
A non-toxic polymer was used for manufacturing, they contain several dozen nanoreservoirs with medicine. Small lenses are securely attached to the eyes and do not interfere with blinking.
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