Cybersight hits 100,000 users

Cybersight has now officially reached 100,000 registered users. The platform, which marked its 20th anniversary last year, saw a surge in its userbase at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In February 2020, Cybersight had around 20,000 users, and now, just over four years later, it has more than five times as many. Continued growth following the pandemic shows the demand for virtual learning and mentorship in eye care around the world is just as high as ever.

To mark this milestone, we are announcing a $1 million endowment for Cybersight and the naming of the Cybersight library after Orbis Volunteer Faculty member Dr. Eugene Helveston, the platform’s founder. We’d like to say a huge thank you to the anonymous ophthalmologist who donated the $1 million endowment.

Images: Then and now — Cybersight 20 years on.

Cybersight provides training, mentoring, and online courses to eye care professionals in nearly every country and territory across the globe.

“Cybersight is a vital resource for the eye care community around the globe, and we are so proud of its growth and extensive reach,” says Dr. Hunter Cherwek, Vice President of Clinical Services and Technologies at Orbis International. “The support from this endowment will help us keep expanding access and content so more eye care professionals from all over the world can benefit.”

Increasing access to ophthalmic training is essential in a world where 90% of all vision loss is completely avoidable. Lack of access to training in low- and middle-income countries, home to nine out of ten people with vision loss, means a virtual training platform can have huge impact. And with Cybersight cost is never a barrier as we offer all of our resources and tools for free.

Volunteer Faculty Dr. Helveston created the world’s first internet-based ophthalmic telemedicine program in 1998, using email to send questions and advice to colleagues around the world. This training program improved as technology advanced, and in 2003, we launched Cybersight to streamline the platform that Dr. Helveston created.

Today Dr. Helveston's idea now houses dozens of tools, including the Cybersight library, now known as The Eugene Helveston Cybersight e-Library. This free repository contains more than 1,000 surgical videos, quizzes, textbooks, and simulation training materials — with resources in more than nine languages!

In addition to library content, Cybersight offers online courses — 50% in a language other than English. On Cybersight, eye care professionals can also get in touch with expert volunteers who provide on-demand advice for complex cases, a service that has helped more than 30,000 patients globally. The platform also broadcasts live lectures and surgeries on board the Orbis Flying Eye Hospital to partner hospitals and classrooms around the world.

Vietnam is currently one of the countries with most Cybersight users in the world. More than 4,500 Vietnamese eye care professionals have registered to use free services on Cybersight. More and more resources are now available in Vietnamese on Cybersight, including live webinars in different topics which are presented by country leading ophthalmic experts that each draw the participation of hundreds of people.

Since early 2024, Orbis has teamed up with Nidek to integrate Cybersight AI in screening and early detection of diabetic retinopathy in three provinces of Nam Dinh, Nghe An and Can Tho. Under this model, non-ophthalmic staff, trained by Orbis in fundus photography, will screen diabetic patients using Nidek fundus camera, then upload the images onto Cybersight for grading by Cybersight AI which delivers the results in 20-30 seconds. The grading results will help inform treatment or referral to treatment for patients with retinal damages or signs of diabetic retinopathy. With this model, more and more diabetic patients are now screened to early detect their retinal damages that helps prevent them from blindness or visual impairment due to complications of diabetes; and the link and connection between eye care and endocrinology department are now reinforced and strengthened.