To evaluate the usefulness of fundus images captured with a smartphone camera in retinopathy of prematurity (ROP).

We took fundoscopic photographs of 13 premature infants (26 eyes) using a smartphone (an I-phone 5) camera fitted with a 30 D lens (Volk Optical Inc., Mentor, OH, USA) from March 2014 to September 2017 in the neonatal intensive care units of Dong-A University Hospital. A hand-held smartphone camera with a 30 D lens was used to record the fundus in video mode. Fundus photographs were then captured from the video film.

Four premature infants were diagnosed with ROP and were successfully photographed via smartphone fundoscopy. The photographs showed the optic disc, retinal arteries and veins, and the posterior pole of the retina. The photographs were simply saved as image files and uploaded to our electronic medical record system.

Smartphone fundoscopy to document ROP does not capture the peripheral retina but can be useful in hospitals lacking expensive imaging equipment. The technique may be useful in terms of documentation, education, and telemedicine.