Digital Imaging Versus Ophthalmoscopy

Cataract (cloudiness of the lens) is the major cause of avoidable child blindness in the world and affects 1 in 3000 UK infants. Screening may fail to detect a cataract in an affected child (false-negative) or mistakenly suggest there is a cataract (false positive) triggering urgent unnecessary referral. Screening is currently undertaken using an ophthalmoscope into the eye to assess the reddish reflected light (red-reflex). This study aims to test if screening using a new hand-held digital imaging device (Neocam) is more accurate than the ophthalmoscope for newborn eye screening.