MADISON Wis. – Researchers at the University of Wisconsin Medical School plan to expand their work on diabetic eye disease into 10 hospitals around the country. The hospitals all focus on rural communities, said Yao Liu, director of the university’s teleophthalmology program. The research, funded with a $4.4 million rant, will have remote doctors take photos of the back of patients’ eyes and send the photos specialists in Madison to review for early signs of damage. The researchers already have experience with rural Wisconsin hospitals.
Diabetic blindness
Diabetic eye disease is the leading cause of blindness among working-age adults in the United States. the disease can be diagnosed even before patients realize that they have a problem and then treated.