Forus Neonatal Fundus Imaging Camera
June 2019
About
For a large number of Indians from the lower socioeconomic classes, an eye checkup is an appointment that is never made, unless the patient is in extreme distress.
Cataracts, Glaucoma and Retinoblastomas are all conditions that have better prognoses when detected early, especially in young children.
Work
Forus' screening camera was developed to leverage the red eye reflex that is a result of bright light reflecting off the retinal screen when the pupils are in a dialated state.
The captured images are evaluated at scale in the cloud to detect issues early on.
The design of the camera was tailored to make it feel non–threatening and allow it to be used in any orientation, with a soft trigger button being implemented to help reduce blur when the trigger is depressed.
Design Decisions
Designed for neonatal and young children, there was a requirement to have the device remain stable when taking photos in a low light environment. Inspired by video game controllers, we thought that this design decision would enable the device to be used even over a child's cradle without loss of quality.
Another interesting feature is the soft trigger button—longer exposures are very sensitive to even slight shock from the trigger button being pressed and depressed, which we managed to solve.
The device was prototyped with a custom lens array, to be as fast as possible while minimizing cost.