The DOI matches its Crossref record; 1 of the 1 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Saving sight in China and beyond: the Lifeline Express model
Open accessAbstract
Cataract and diabetic retinopathy are leading causes of blindness globally. Lifeline Express (LEX) has pioneered the provision of cataract surgery in rural China from custom-built trains and eye centres nationwide. Over the past two decades, LEX has provided free cataract surgery for over 180 000 patients in China. In China, half of the adult population has prediabetes and 113 million adults have diabetes. Recognising the rising threat of diabetic retinopathy, LEX has expanded to providing free diabetic retinopathy screening nationwide by establishing 29 Diabetic Retinopathy Screening Centres across China. Source of referrals included host hospitals, the community and out-reach mobile vans equipped with fundus cameras. Fundi photos taken in the mobile vans were electronically transferred to primary graders. LEX also leveraged the widespread smartphone use to provide electronic medical reports via WeChat, the most popular instant messenger app in China. From April 2014 to December 2016, 34 506 patients with diabetes underwent screening, of which 27.2% (9,396) were identified to have diabetic retinopathy. China’s latest national health strategy (‘Healthy China 2030 Plan’) has championed the ‘prevention first’ principle and early screening of chronic diseases. LEX has accordingly evolved to extend its services to save sight in China—from cataract surgery to diabetic retinopathy screening and most recently outreaching beyond its national borders in a pilot South–South collaboration. With health at the top of the China’s developmental agenda and the country’s growing role in global health—LEX’s large-scale telemedicine-enabled programme could represent a potentially scalable model for nationwide diabetic retinopathy screening elsewhere.
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Compliance with referral suggestion for a full ocular examination among diabetic patients was 33% in one rural region of the Lifeline Express Program and 50.7% in urban regions.
“Compliance with referral suggestion for a full ocular examination among diabetic patients was reported as 33% in one rural region of the Lifeline Express Program and as 50.7% in urban regions14,43,44.”
From Economic evaluation for medical artificial intelligence: accuracy vs. cost-effectiveness in a diabetic retinopathy screening case (2024) · cites this paper as [44]
The Preliminary evaluation reports that in Mianzhu, one-third of patients who screened positive and were referred to ophthalmologists subsequently received treatment at the host hospital. That is not a measure of compliance with a referral for a full ocular examination: others may have sought care elsewhere. The paper does not report a 50.7% figure for urban regions. (LLM, conf=0.86)
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Digital technology, tele-medicine and artificial intelligence in ophthalmology: A global perspective
Li, J.-P. O., Liu, H., Ting, D. S. J., Jeon, S., Chan, R. V. P., Kim, J. E., Sim, D. A., Thomas, P. B. M., Lin, H., Chen, Y., et al. (2021) · Progress in Retinal and Eye Research · doi:10.1016/j.preteyeres.2020.100900 · Cited by 626
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Telemedicine in surgical care in low- and middle-income countries: a scoping review
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Metadata
- Authors
- Wong, I. Y. H., Ni, M. Y., Wong, I. O. L., Fong, N., & Leung, G. M.
- Affiliations
- University of Hong Kong (HK)
- Lifeline Express, Lifeline Express Hong Kong Foundation, Hong Kong, China
- Corresponding author
- Ni, Michael Yuxuan
- Venue
- BMJ Global Health
- Publisher
- BMJ
- Published
- 2018-08
- Volume
- 3
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- e000766
- ISSN
- 2059-7908 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC6104791
- OpenAlex
- W2885486989
- Cited by
- 19
- References
- 1
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 4 · 2020: 2 · 2019: 3
- FWCI
- 1.76
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- cc-by-nc
- Locations
- BMJ Global Health (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, other-oa)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Li Ka Shing Foundation
- Joint Shantou International Eye Center
- Fred Hollows Foundation
- China State Construction Engineering Corporation
- People's Government of Jilin Province
- Peking University
- Peking Union Medical College Hospital
- Peking University Third Hospital
- Hutchison Whampoa Limited
- Peking Union Medical College
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Ophthalmology › Ophthalmology and Visual Impairment Studies
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and Imaging › Retinal Imaging and Analysis
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Ophthalmology › Ophthalmology and Visual Health Research
- Keywords
- cataract surgery, diabetic retinopathy screening, telemedicine, fundus photography, WeChat, South-South cooperation, blindness prevention, Healthy China 2030, rural China
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