Waterloo teen's eyecare project wows at international science fair

A 15-year-old Waterloo, Ont., student has impressed judges at a prestigious international science fair with his project: a telehealth platform that he hopes will make eye care cheaper and more accessible. 

Hardit Singh's platform, called Specular, won second prize at the European Union Contest for Young Scientists. Countries from around the world send their best science fair projects to the competition, which was held earlier this month in Salamanca, Spain. 

"There are so many great projects, and to be recognized among them, I feel honoured and proud," said Singh, who is a Grade 10 student at Cameron Heights Collegiate and attended the competition remotely.

Specular uses a portable imager to take photos of the eye and artificial intelligence (AI) to screen for disease. It costs about $300 — far less than the closest comparable medical device, a fundus camera, which can cost up to $5,000. 

Singh said he became interested in ophthalmology after a friend's detached retina went misdiagnosed for a long time. 

"That really got me interested — like, if this can happen in a richer and more developed area like Waterloo, what could the conditions be like in other areas which don't have as much access?" said Singh. 

Singh said the technology could be particularly useful for field workers with international non-governmental organizations, who could bring it to remote villages and quickly test many different patients at once.