Skip to content

Final Project

The issue

When wanting to make an in depth eye examination anesthetic drops are applied to the eye, and serve to relax the pupil, stopping it from being able to contract altogether for a few hours.

This method (which is currently the only method available) comes with a few drawbacks. First is the issue of practicality. The drops have to be applied in a hospital by specially trained professionals, meaning that an optician cannot perform this procedure at their practice. The optician has to refer the patient to their designated hospital where they then must make an appointment, which in some cases can be a period of over one month. Furthermore, the drops themselves are relatively painful, meaning that it is quite difficult to apply them to children, for example.

Finally, the drops mean that the patient will be unable to adjust properly to changes in light for several hours, often for the rest of the day: They will be unable to drive, and in some cases, unable to even see well enough to use public transport (not to mention other basic tasks like cooking). As such, the individual will often require someone to aid them for the rest of the day. This, again, makes the procedure somewhat impractical.

The solution

Finally, the drops mean that the patient will be unable to adjust properly to changes in light for several hours, often for the rest of the day: They will be unable to drive, and in some cases, unable to even see well enough to use public transport (not to mention other basic tasks like cooking). As such, the individual will often require someone to aid them for the rest of the day. This, again, makes the procedure somewhat impractical.

Hving identified this issue, I set out to attempt to create a machine that would offer an alternatice. My idea is to desing an infrared camera that can focus and take pictured on the back of someones eye. Because the light would invisible to the person, a picture could be taken in a dark room without having the persons pupil contracting, allowing for a good picture to be taken without the use of anesthetics.

The checklist

  • What will it do? The project will be an infrared camera used to take pictures of the back of a person’s retina (the back of their eye).

  • Who’s done what beforehand? To my knowledge, no project like this has been carried out. I was able to find some evidence of similar concepts being tested, but no evidence of a similar project being finished.

  • What will you design? I aim to design myself as many parts of the project as possible. This will entail creating and soldering the various electronic components, as well as designing an appropriate casing and layout that allows it to be used for its intended purpose. Furthermore I will create an aparatus that allows to mount the correct focusing lense.

  • What materials and components will be used? The project will require an assortment of generic electronic components, as well as cabling, material to make the boards etc. The two main specific components to be used will be the camera itself as well as a screen to display the camera feed. In terms of the casing, this will be comprised of PLA plastic (3d printed). A lense will also have to be acquired, however Im already in possesion of a few examples I can make use of.

  • Where will the parts come from? The electronics components can be purchased from any electronics vendor. The camera itself will depend, as there are multiple brands that offer similar specs. For the construction of my project, I was aiming to make use of a device manufactured by RS components, which are relatively cheap and available online.

  • How much will they cost? The cost of an infra red camera hovers around the $20 mark, whereas a small LCD display may be purchased for around $15, putting the base cost to around $35. To this we must then add the price of the various electronic components, the PLA and the boards themselves. In total, the project is unlikely to exceed the $50 mark.

  • What parts and systems will be made? Electronics. Casings.

  • What processes will be used? General electronic production. Programming and networking. 3d printing

  • What questions need to be answered? I have yet to decide a specific camera and LCD screen model to be used. I also need to decide the specific electronic components being used, which will depend on the model of screen and camera selected. Once that is completed the task will be to find out excactly how to connect them to eachother. Finally, I will not know whether an infrared picture provides enough detail in order to carry out an effective examination untill the machine is finished and I can test it.

  • How will it be evaluated? The goal of the camera is to take a sharp, focused image of an individuals retina whilst in a pitch black room, and then display it on an embbeded lcd screen. If I am able to do this then I will consider the project to have been a success.