A team of researchers from the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) College of Medicine and Massachusetts Eye and Ear/Harvard Medical School have developed a cheap, portable camera that can take images of the retina with no dilating required.
The camera is reportedly made out of simple parts mostly available online, costs about $185 to build, and can be easily carried in a pocket. It is based on the Raspberry Pi 2 computer -- reportedly a low-cost, single-board computer designed to teach children how to build and program computers.
According to researchers, the camera works by first emitting infrared light, which the iris does not react to. The infrared light is used to focus the camera on the retina and once focused, a quick flash of white light is delivered to take the image. Camera photos reportedly show the retina and its blood supply, as well as a portion of the optic nerve.
The research was recently published in the Journal of Ophthalmology.
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Source: University of Illinois at Chicago