Projects

25% of Curaçao Island population suffer from Diabetes, a disease which may lead to many complications, one of them being Diabetic Retinopathy. This eye condition can cause severe vision problems and sometimes even blindness. Periodic eye screening is essential for the prevention of Diabetic Retinopathy. However, with an extremely limited capacity of specialized medical care, ophthalmologists and ophthalmic equipment on Curaçao, only a small part of the population can be offered proper eye care today.

Thirona Retina joined forces with Laboratorio de Medicos and provided RetCAD™ software to make preventive eye screening for Diabetic Retinopathy on Curaçao Island possible. This allows Laboratorio de Medicos to open more screening locations across the whole island and offer all people equal access to eye care.

About 5,3% of Australian population (1.3 million people) are suffering from diabetes. Providing accessible eye-screening for patients with diabetes is extremely important to prevent vision loss due to conditions such as Diabetic Retinopathy. However, for communities living in remote parts of Australia, this is nearly impossible.  Studies show that the average patient in an Australian remote community must overcome the issue of a long distance to the nearest GP and get a referral for the ophthalmologist. Additionally, there are limited number of ophthalmologists available in the peripheral areas.

Thirona Retina collaborates with Topcon Healthcare to provide on-spot eye screening solution among remote communities. Currently, Topcon fundus cameras interfaced with RetCAD™ software have been installed in five clinics in various clinical settings, including the Lions Outback Vision Van and an Aboriginal medical service, with more installations to come in the nearest future.

According to the International Diabetic Federation Europe, the prevalence of Diabetes among the working-class population in Czech Republic is 9.8%. Diabetic Retinopathy (DR) is an often-seen side-effect in diabetic patients that can lead to vision loss. Hence, it is important to provide diabetic patients with regular access to eye screening.

Understanding this issue, local eye care professionals in Czech Republic, have been working on a reimbursement program since 2018. This project is aimed to make eye screening for DR accessible for all diabetic patients in the country. In November 2022, Thirona Retina empowered this project by providing the RetCAD™ software for the reimbursement program and conducted trainings for local professionals together with Czech Diabetic Society to help healthcare providers meet all these conditions.

The latest research indicates that there are 1.1 million people in the Netherlands suffering from Diabetes, with around 10-15% of them having Diabetic Retinopathy. Without a population screening program, it can be hard to detect this condition at the earliest stage, when Diabetic Retinopathy can still be controlled. However, a lot of people visit eye care specialists too late. Additionally, the high percentage of patient overload has an effect on the ophthalmologist workflow in the clinics.

Thirona Retina aims to empower eye care specialists by implementing RetCAD™ into the workflow of Dutch Clinics. By providing an easy-to-use solution for Diabetic Retinopathy screening, RetCAD™ saves the valuable time of the ophthalmologists. Currently, RetCAD™ has already been introduced in 2 Dutch hospitals.