The iPhone 13 Pro comes with new camera modes such as using the ultra-wide sensor for Macro shots. The mode can be used for taking close-up pictures and videos. However, we never thought that Doctors would start using the cameras on the phone for eye checkups. While most iPhone users will make use of the Macro mode for capturing images of flowers and bugs, Doctor Tommy Korn is using it for eye treatment. 

Korn, an ophthalmologist, shared his story on LinkedIn on how he has been using the iPhone 13 Pro Max to check a patient’s eye with the new camera. Korn was able to take highly detailed images of the eyes using the macro mode and recorded important details about the patient’s health.

© LinkedIn_TommyKorn

“Been using the iPhone 13 Pro Max for MACRO eye photos this week. Impressed. Will innovate patient eye care & telemedicine. forward to seeing where it goes… Photos are from healing a resolving abrasion in a cornea transplant. Permission was obtained to use photos. PS: this “Pro camera” includes a telephone app too” he said in his post. 

© LinkedIn_TommyKorn

He also argues with help of another optometrist, Jeffrey Lewis, that the feature could be used in pushing telemedicine forward. “Dovetails with the overall move toward virtual, slowly overcoming imaging barriers. Yet another way to impress, manage, nurture long-term relationships with our patients,” Korn said. 

What’s impressive is that even though the results look incredible, Apple achieved this without using a dedicated sensor for macro shots. The ultra-wide sensor on the iPhone 12 Pro Max has a larger f/1.8 aperture and 120-degree field of view which enables it to capture images from 2 centimetres of distance. 

© LinkedIn_TommyKorn

This is not the first time Doctor Korn has been using smartphone photography for taking pictures of the eye. In a previous LinkedIn post, Korn says that the potential of macro photography by smartphones could be a game-changer. He says that patients can send macro images of their eyes to doctors for examination. He says that if a doctor detects a critical eye condition, the person can then call for an in-person appointment. "Macro eye photography can improve peer to peer physician “curbside” consults when emergency/urgent care physicians communicate with ophthalmologists about patients with emergency eye conditions,” he said in a different post. 

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