Aust'n software to remotely diagnose eye conditions wins prestigious Google grant

Australian researchers have won a grant from Google to rollout their software aimed at diagnosing eye conditions in remote communities.

Researchers from the Centre for Eye Research Australia (CERA), based at the University of Melbourne, won 570,000 U.S. dollars at the Google Impact Challenge for their Vision at Home project.

Vision at Home is computer software designed to use the webcam on any computer to take images of a user's eyes and use an algorithm to test the eyesight and identify any eye conditions.

Mingguang He, Principal Investigator at CERA and a Professor of Ophthalmic Epidemiology at the University of Melbourne, said he was shocked by the win.

"I am thrilled our proposal received such a positive response from the competition judges and the general public," He said in a media release on Friday.

"Our project is a simple hand-held solution for those who live far away from eye specialists and has the potential to help millions of people not only in Australia but worldwide."

William Yan, the leader of the Vision at Home project, said he was "absolutely stoked" to win the grant.

"94 percent of blindness or vision loss in Indigenous Australians is preventable or treatable and Vision at Home will bring testing to areas with poor access and benefit groups with great potential for sight-saving interventions, including children, the elderly and Indigenous Australians. It can also be used overseas in remote locations," Yan said.

The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) estimated that over 600,000 Australians are living with vision impairment, a figure that will grow to over one million by 2024.

Vision at Home will first be rolled out to elderly and disabled patients in Victoria and schools in indigenous communities. Endit