Doctor uses iPhone 13 Pro Max camera for patient's eye checkup, shares pictures

Apple products are known for their precision and accuracy all over the world. There have been cases where heart patients have been informed of irregular pulse rates by Apple Watch (using electrocardiogram feature) in time to save their life. With further advancement in technology and new iterations of devices being launched by Apple, an ophthalmologist in San Diego, California has put the iPhone 13 Pro Max to better use. 

Tommy Korn, an ophthalmologist at Sharp Health Care in California, USA, has been using the iPhone 13 Pro Max for clicking macro shots of patients' eyes. The healthcare professional shared four pictures, on his LinkedIn profile, of the macro shots of a patient's eye and the improvement in three days. The doctor also explained that the images show a healing abrasion in a cornea transplant on day one and day three. 

Doctor clicks photos of eye using iPhone 13 Pro Max

Korn has been using smartphone photography tech for taking eye pictures for quite some time. In another article published by him on LinkedIn, Korn elaborates upon the potential of macro photography by smartphones. He details how patients can send macro images of their eyes clicked by a smartphone for examination by the eye care team. Thereafter, a doctor connects with the patient for "non-urgent eye conditions". If the doctor detects a critical eye condition, the patient is called for an in-person appointment. Further, high-quality macro images shot by smartphones help in identifying emergencies.  

As Korn mentions in another post, "macro eye photography can improve peer to peer physician “curbside” consults when emergency/urgent care physicians communicate with ophthalmologists about patients with emergency eye conditions." This type of usage of smartphone photography can help patients in less time than conventional practises and as it is more convenient. The macro lens on iPhone 13 Pro Max can get pictures of a subject from a lesser distance, which helps in taking detailed photographs of smaller subjects. 

Such cases of Apple devices helping the healthcare facilities are not new. Earlier in October 2020, the electrocardiogram (ECG) feature on an Apple Watch saved the life of an aged man from Indore, Madhya Pradesh, India. The 61-year-old man used an Apple Watch Series 5 which informed about irregular heartbeats. After medical diagnoses, it was found that the patient has a critical condition of low ejection fraction and required surgery.