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.

Recent innovations to Cybersight include Cybersight AI, an artificial intelligence tool that can detect common eye diseases in seconds by examining photographs of eyes. This game-changing tool helps doctors detect and treat diseases early, helping save more sight.

Looking to the future, we aim to expand our Cybersight AI program, as well as translate our tools into even more languages. With Cybersight, we hope to give everyone access to the quality eye care training they deserve, no matter where they live.

Dr. Olena Hurzhii is an ophthalmologist based in Kyiv, Ukraine, who serves as the Director of Medical Education at Visium Eye Care. Since creating her Cybersight account in 2019, she has submitted nearly 90 consultations, making her one of the most active Ukrainian users on the platform.

"Cybersight gives me an amazing opportunity to help,” says Dr. Hurzhii. “It feels as if I'm seeing my patient with a mentor right beside me... helping me."

Dr. Hurzhii, who is a self-taught specialist in an inflammation of the eye called uveitis, uses Cybersight to speak with experts abroad. She says, “the most support I got when I started my uveitis training was from Cybersight. Because we do not have sub-specialty training here in Ukraine... And, we also do not have many uveitis specialists. So, I'm basically self-taught... Cybersight helped me a lot because I was able to solve my cases through the help of excellent mentors.”

One of her key mentors on the site is Dr. Ramana Moorthy from Indianapolis, Indiana. Dr. Moorthy has been an active member of Cybersight since 2015 and consulted on over 250 cases — including one third of Dr. Hurzhii’s. Even though they’ve never met in person, Dr. Moorthy guides Dr. Hurzhii through complex cases so she can better serve her community.

Dr. Huzhrii tells us that just last week Dr. Moorthy’s expertise helped her treat a patient with a particularly advanced case of uveitis. “I count this patient as Dr. Ramana's patient,” she tells us. “Because without his support, I would never have tried it myself, honestly.”

Cybersight is now more important than ever to Dr. Huzhrii, with travel and training opportunities restricted since the outbreak of war in February 2022.

We’d like to say a huge thank you to the Orbis community for helping grow Cybersight into the platform it is today. From our Volunteer Faculty who give up their free time to deliver online webinars and consult on complex cases, to the dedicated eye care professionals around the world who use it to improve the quality of the care they provide, and of course our wonderful supporters – together we’re helping change the way the world sees.