Eye Care Charity Orbis Announces New Partnership with Heidelberg Engineering
Orbis announced a new partnership with Heidelberg Engineering in which Heidelburg will fund crucial teaching opportunities and research—focusing on training eye care professionals around the world via Cybersight (Orbis’s telemedicine and e-learning platform).
It will also fund the charity’s research into retinoblastoma, a rare cancer of the retina most commonly affecting children under the age of 5. The project, which will utilize Cybersight, will investigate the impact of artificial intelligence on worldwide retinoblastoma care. It will also look at how treatment, outcomes, and disease-specific knowledge continues to change over time.
It is estimated that 90% of the 1.1 billion people living with vision loss and blindness reside in low-and middle-income countries. Cybersight is dedicated to providing eye care specialists in these locations with free, virtual access to training, knowledge, and other resources.
Heidelberg Engineering’s contribution to Cybersight will support the delivery of live webinars on topics including optical coherence tomography (OCT).
In the first half of 2023, Cybersight webinars have reached over 15,000 attendees. The new sessions supported by the Heidelberg Engineering Academy have the potential to equip thousands of ophthalmic professionals worldwide to provide higher quality eye care for their communities, according to a company news release.
“Orbis is delighted to be partnering with Heidelberg Engineering. Retinoblastoma outcomes for children in low-and-middle income countries could be significantly improved with earlier diagnosis and enhanced treatment," Dr. Hunter Cherwek, Vice President, Clinical Services & Technologies at Orbis International, said in a news release. "As a global leader in imaging and health care technology, Heidelberg Engineering’s generous contribution and partnership will mean we can both offer enhanced knowledge for eye care practitioners via Cybersight, and pioneer new research that will help improve outcomes for children facing retinoblastoma across the world.”
“Scientific research and clinical education play a large part in fostering the diagnostic confidence that has become synonymous with our global brand,” said Arianna Schoess-Vargas, Managing Director of Heidelberg Engineering GmbH. “This new partnership with Orbis will make valuable knowledge accessible to thousands of eye care professionals and contribute to meaningful scientific research that will not only save sight but will save lives.”