Remote eye program wins National Award, Grylls
Author: Brendon Grylls
Published on: 22-September-2011
Regional Development Minister Brendon Grylls has congratulated the team behind the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) ‘Remote-i’ research project for winning two awards at the recent 2011 National iAwards in Melbourne.
Remote-i, which received Royalties for Regions funding to deliver the program in WA’s Pilbara region, is aimed at saving the eyesight of people in rural and remote areas of Australia through screening and early diagnosis.
Remote-i was awarded the national e-Health iAward for providing a low cost, high quality eye screening system that is giving people in regional Western Australia easier access to specialist ophthalmological services, as well as receiving the Victorian Government Inspiration award.
The WA State Government’s Royalties for Regions program provided funding of $397,000 to assist CSIRO develop and deliver the project, which is using Community Resource Centre facilities in remote areas of the Pilbara to undertake eye screenings for diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma and other vision abnormalities.
“Limited access to eye specialists across regional areas of the State can make early diagnoses and treatment of eye disease difficult,” Mr Grylls said.
“This is particularly so in the Aboriginal population where there is a high incidence of diabetes which makes them more susceptible to developing eye disease. Being able to manage eye disease using cutting edge technology over the web is a great innovation.”
In addition to obtaining eye images, CSIRO will also collect blood pressure and information based on a questionnaire for dementia-related symptoms. This data will be combined with retinal image analysis to study changes in the eye due to Alzheimer’s disease, stroke and cardiovascular disease. The purpose of this work will be to look for markers which will help in the development of non-invasive screening technology.
