On June 4 the staff from the Sioux Lookout Diabetes Education Program, Christine Penner Polle, along with the Diabetes Research team from Sandy Lake First Nation met in Thunder Bay to receiving training on the use of the new Diabetic Retinopathy camera. This camera was purchased for the region under the KO / NORTH Network Telehealth CHIPP project.
The camera is used to take pictures of the inside of the eye. These pictures are then sent to an opthalmologist to look at. The Opthalmologist can determine if there is any damage to the eye, particularly from Diabetes, that might required corrective surgery.
This camera is now in Sandy Lake where it will be until the middle of July. After that it will travel around for six months to the five KO First Nations with the Sioux Lookout Diabetes Educators. These nurses will be using it to send pictures to Dr. Schoales, an opthalmologist in Thunder Bay, who is working with the Telehealth team.
This new and easy to use technology will help identify eye disease and help people get early treatment. It is a collaborative effort between the Northern Ontario Diabetes Research Project and the NORTH Network.
For pictures of the equipment and the people working on this project, click here.