What is "teleophthalmology"

n. ophthalmology carried out remotely using audiovisual telecommunications between doctor and patient.

Teleophthalmology is a branch of telemedicine that delivers eye care through digital medical equipment and telecommunications technology. Today, applications of teleophthalmology encompass access to eye specialists for patients in remote areas, ophthalmic disease screening, diagnosis and monitoring; as well as distant learning.

Teleophthalmology enables health professionals to take ocular images and attend to patients who have limited access to ocular health care. These images allow the ophthalmologist or optometrist, health care professionals and researchers to carry out the aforementioned applications. The required equipment includes a camera that can take ocular images and a computer terminal with network capabilities, which can transfer the images. There has been a significant increase in teleophthalmology research over the past decade. However, differences in health information exchange standards, data security, liability issues, and cost of equipment are other major challenges in teleophthalmology.