Use of 'U-shaped tool for follow up of corneal ulcer cases in the COVID-19 pandemic

Bafna, Rahul K; Beniwal, Abhijeet; Kalra, Nidhi; Lata, Suman; Asif, Mohamed Ibrahime; Sharma, Namrata

To describe a smartphone-based telemedicine tool for monitoring of corneal ulcer size during the corona pandemic, a simple “U”-shaped tool was constructed using three Schirmer's strips that were provided to the patients with small to medium-sized corneal ulcers. The patient and the attendant were trained to use this simple U-shaped tool at home and send digital images to the treating ophthalmologist, to monitor the course of the ulcer. The tool was used in five eyes of five patients with active microbial keratitis. Patients were followed up regularly with the use of telemedicine facility every 48 h for an average duration of 7.6 days (range 6–9 days). In all the five eyes, assessment of the serial images with U-shaped tool showed decrease in size of corneal ulcer, which corroborated with subjective improvement in symptoms. Hence, the novel “'U'-shaped tool” may provide an effective measure in following-up of corneal ulcer patients in times of the COVID-19 pandemic, obviating frequent hospital visits and risk of contracting COVID.