Rwanda International Institute of Ophthalmology brings latest ocular electrophysiology testing to Rwanda

By Michel Nkurunziza.

Rwanda International Institute of Ophthalmology- a nonprofit organisation based in Kigali has brought the latest ocular electrophysiology testing to Rwanda.

Rwanda International Institute of Ophthalmology is dedicated to the promotion and provision of good eye health to Rwandans and patients in the region through training of eye doctors, research to identify innovations that improve how eye health is delivered, service provision for those with eye problems and support for those with irreversible blindness.

RIIO runs a clinic at Kibagabaga District Hospital and has recently opened a state of the art SuperSpecialty Hospital in Nyarutarama, Kigali.

Diagnostic options for patients with hard to understand loss of vision has been limited in the country.

Ophthalmic electrophysiology is a series of tests used to measure how different parts of your eyes and vision system respond to light.

They are similar to ECG for the heart and EEG for the brain, these tests check how your eyes and brain process what you’re seeing by measuring the electrical activity in your retina and optic nerves.

To date, patients in East and Central Africa in need of device-based electrophysiology testing have to travel abroad to undergo testing, often venturing to Kenya, India. Europe or the U.S.

RIIO’s new hospital the RIIO iHospital has recently acquired the latest Electrophysiology

Testing set up from Roland Consult

The Roland Consult Company was established 1993 by Manfred Stasche & Joachim Finger and has thirty years of electrophysiology development specific to visual sciences with more than 3000 installations and counting in over 60 countries.

This is their first installation in East Central and Southern Africa region. Based in Brandenburg an der Havel, Germany, Roland Consult is FDA registered and globally recognized for a tradition of innovation and trusted by genetics, molecular and cell biology vision research centers worldwide.

The preparation for this installation started approximately 2 years ago with a demonstration of their equipment during a conference attended by Prof Ciku Mathenge and Prof John Nkurikiye, the RIIO Founders and Directors.

In 2022 the directors attended a training course in Berlin to understand all the functionalities and processes of electrophysiological tests for the eyes.

The equipment purchase and shipping was completed this year.

Recently Mr Joachim Finger, the founder of Roland Consult was in Rwanda at Rilo Hospital for one week, to install and train users on this new dimension of patient care.

Ing. Joachim Finger said that it is the result of 30 years of research in order to examine the eyes not only behind the eyes, but also on the brain where a person develops the ability to see.

“It’s a machine that works with the brain’s electrical system and examines all the pathways that help a person to see, and it will know if there’s a problem,” he said.

Prof. John Nkurikiye, one of the founders of RIIO in Rwanda, and an Ophthalmologist, explained that this technology was not available in Rwanda, making those who need eye care go to foreign countries such as India, Europe, the United States and elsewhere.

He said, “There are times when you see an eye that is alive but a person cannot see, to find out where the problem is, we used to send them abroad like in India, Europe, but now even the poor can use it as much as possible.”