Glaucare specializes in ophthalmology solutions, focusing on medical app development for eye care. Recognizing the global issue of limited ophthalmological access—affecting 2.5 billion people (WHO)—we created ophmo, a mobile eye clinic. This hand-luggage-sized case integrates custom hardware and software to detect major eye diseases early, preventing blindness in rural areas. Our prototype, completed in early 2023, proved effective in a May 2024 pilot at Kenya’s Kisii Eye Clinic, validated by Dr. Dan Kiage. Operated by trained medical assistants, ophmo enables remote diagnosis through telemedicine with ophthalmologists.

We focus on regions with fewer than 5 ophthalmologists per 1 million inhabitants, as recommended by the WHO. After multiple visits to South, East, and West Africa, and discussions with the Clinton Foundation in New York, the severity of ophthalmological undersupply in many countries was confirmed. Our partner, oDocs in New Zealand, will manage the Australian market. Initial orders have already come from Nigeria and Uganda, and preliminary talks with Kerala’s provincial government in India are underway. However, ophthalmological shortages also affect rural areas in OECD countries. In parts of Germany, patients face waiting times of up to 12 months for an appointment. Globally, rural healthcare is in decline, as young doctors are reluctant to work in these areas. In the U.S., for instance, 8,292 ophthalmologists and optometrists left rural regions during the COVID-19 pandemic (data as of August 2022).

Our partners are integrated into the supply chain, handling assembly, component integration, and shipping. To support adoption by health ministries, we developed a feasibility study for implementation in eye hospitals, starting in Rwanda in 2025. We are optimizing workflows and telemedicine functions to meet country-specific requirements, with Starlink ensuring reliable internet access. In the future, AI will analyze images from fundus cameras and slit lamps to enable faster, more precise diagnoses. European research centers are developing AI algorithms to detect retinal biomarkers for disease. We aim to collaborate on this research to further enhance our ophmo system.