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An ophthalmologist in San Diego has elaborated on his use of the iPhone 13 Pro Max to photograph a patient’s eyes, explaining the reasons behind using the iPhone camera after using a DSLR, and that he has already used iPhones for quite some time. weather.
On September 30, a Linkedin post by Dr. Tommy Korn, ophthalmologist and specialist in digital health innovations at Sharp Healthcare, went viral due to the use of the macro photography feature of the iPhone 13 Pro Max to take pictures of the eyes. of your patient. After receiving attention for the publication, where he says he was “impressed” with the camera and that it could “innovate in eye care and patient telemedicine,” Dr. Korn elaborated on his experience using cameras in his work.
According to Dr. Korn, the use of the iPhone is not really for the diagnosis of a patient, more to keep track of the condition of a patient over a period of time. “There is some confusion as to whether the camera will replace exams or larger cameras,” he said. said to PetaPixel.
“Let’s say you have an eye condition or an eye problem and you have to see a doctor and see him six months later and ask, how does he look compared to last time?” “offers the doctor.” Do you think the doctor remembers? They cannot remember. They look at notes and verbal descriptions. “
That’s why doctors take copious notes and take pictures, he explains. While some reviews have encouraged him to keep using a higher-quality standalone camera, he still insists that the iPhone’s camera is fine for the task you’re doing.
“I’m using it for documentation,” said Dr. Grain States. “I have enough information to know if it is serious or not.”
Minimal friction
The doctor has been using cameras for documentary purposes for quite some time, and at one point he did use a full-size camera instead of a smartphone. However, using a Nikon D800 with a 105mm f / 2.8 macro lens produced “many sticking points” in the need to transfer the images from the camera to your computer and into the records.
Over time, Dr. Korn realized that there were easier ways to do the same task, starting with the iPhone 6 Plus. At the time of launch, he began using an adapter-modified iPhone with a slit lamp eye camera.
With the iPhone 13 Pro, he thinks the camera quality has improved enough that he doesn’t need adapters or the $ 15,000 lamp to take the pictures he needs.
“This is a professional camera that comes with a connected computer,” he reasons. “So with that said, I use this camera to document patient photos and attach them to my records with just a few taps.”
In addition to being faster and easier to perform, he adds that there is the benefit of using AirDrop to deliver the same images to the patient’s iPhone so that they can show the photos to other doctors.
Dr. Korn also praised the ability for patients to be diagnosed from home, with the ability to make a video call and ask them to show you their eye using their iPhone’s camera. “Then I can bring in people who really need to be seen in person, and those who are not urgent can be seen comfortably at home.”