Diabetes is very common nowadays. According to the latest figures, there are 500 million diabetic patients in the world. In Turkey, this number is around 11 million. It is stated that one of the biggest risk factors waiting for patients with diabetes is blindness caused by diabetes.
At this point, Tootech is preparing to introduce the project it has developed to prevent blindness caused by diabetes, to the end user. TOOTECH HEALTH TECHNOLOGIES AND ARGE company, founded by two young entrepreneur women on 16.01.2020, aims to offer a solution to the disease, which is called Diabetic Retinopathy in medicine, with the device it has developed.
Retinow aims to prevent diabetic blindness
Aiming to facilitate the routine eye checks of diabetics, Tootech has developed a device for primary health care institutions and an integrated artificial intelligence software to enable patients to detect the risk of blindness at an earlier stage.
Thanks to the software and device it has developed, Tootech takes a photo of the retina, the bottom of the eye, and provides an instant report on the complication in this photo with the help of artificial intelligence. Providing information about the current process, Tootech expresses the process as follows:
“The patient diagnosed with diabetes should go to a routine check-up at least 2 times a year. Blindness caused by diabetes occurs when the blood vessels in the retina are damaged and begin to bleed. The medical name of this disease is Diabetic Retinopathy. Since the disease does not appear suddenly, it is neglected by individuals. But the effect comes on suddenly and the patient begins to struggle with vision loss. Conscious patients, who are very few in number, go to the ophthalmologist and have a fundus examination. In advanced stages, treatment costs increase too much. According to the report of the International Health Organization, the cost of treatment for vision loss due to diabetes is 28,000 USBs per person. Early treatment is essential to minimize treatment costs and most importantly to combat this complication of the disease.”
The initiative, which named the device they developed as Retinow, wants to position its technology in family health centers based on its meetings with the Ministry of Health. In this way, it aims to ensure that every diabetic can receive their routine screening from family health centers in their neighborhood.
Consisting of an optical system and artificial intelligence infrastructure, Retinow offers an artificial intelligence algorithm that performs better than the expensive hardware of its competitors. And besides this, it is stated that Retinow has lowered the costs compared to its competitors.
Retinow, which stated that the device they developed works with 98 percent accuracy in the diagnosis of Diabetic Retinopathy, stands out in terms of portability with its weight of less than 1 kilogram. It is aimed that Retinow will undertake an important task, especially in matters such as home health, which started under pandemic conditions.
Putting increasing the capabilities of the product it has developed among its future goals, Tootech wants to add the diagnosis of three different diseases to the Retinow system by gaining the support of Tübitak 1507.