Beyond the Clinic Walls: Bringing Advanced Eye Care to Pittsburgh’s Underserved

The Topcon and the Mission of Mercy technical team. Left to right: John Bartolovich (Healthcare Economics & Reimbursement Manager, Topcon), Dylan Stapleton (Sales Manager, Topcon), Dr. Evan Waxman, MD, PhD, (UPMC), Sean Kunselman (Senior Director of Sales, Topcon), Jonathan Thomas (Clinical Applications Manager, Topcon), and Seamus Cunningham (Area Sales Manager, Topcon).

Breaking Barriers in Vision Care

In Pittsburgh, thousands of individuals struggle to access essential eye care. In November 2024, Topcon joined forces with the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) and the Mission of Mercy Pittsburgh to bring cutting-edge technology and compassionate care to people in need–bridging the gap between advanced vision care and the underserved community.

Mission of Mercy Pittsburgh is a free, two-day clinic offering dental, vision, and hearing services to underserved individuals in the Pittsburgh area. As a signature program of A Call to Care, Inc., the clinic provides essential healthcare services at no cost, with no eligibility or insurance requirements. Local clinical professionals and dedicated volunteers deliver these services, aiming to improve health outcomes and enhance the community’s well-being.

Nearly 700 Community Members Receive Essential Eye Screenings at Mission of Mercy Pittsburgh

Over the two-day Mission of Mercy Pittsburgh event, 349 Pittsburghers received eye care on Friday and 344 on Saturday—serving nearly 700 people, highlighting the power that working together for one cause can achieve. Glasses were prescribed and ordered, and conditions like cataracts, macular degeneration, macular holes, and diabetic retinopathy were diagnosed. Arrangements for follow-up care were made, and assistance with funding applications was provided to those in need.

Sean Kunselman, Senior Director at Topcon, emphasized the importance of teamwork and preparation, stating: “A great deal of planning and coordination went into the event, and the Topcon team did an incredible job with logistics. The event was a complete success, and I was truly inspired by how our team collaborated and worked alongside world-class specialists in a real clinical setting. It was an incredible opportunity to make a meaningful impact.”

The patient’s refraction is measured with the Topcon Chronos automated system.

Healthcare from the Eye™: Opening Doors to Accessible Healthcare

Topcon’s team of professionals worked side by side with the Mission of Mercy Pittsburgh ophthalmology team, dedicating cutting-edge equipment and leveraging AI-powered Healthcare from the Eyesolutions to deliver precise and efficient robotic non-invasive eye scans for every patient. Healthcare from the Eye aims to improve healthcare access, cost, and quality, and one of its key elementsis Topcon’s cloud-based data management platform, Harmony®, which was instrumental in connecting devices during the two-day event, making it easy for the team to access and share data seamlessly in a high-volume environment.

Dr. Evan Waxman, MD, PhD of UPMC, reflected on the impact of the collaboration: “Topcon’s innovative technology and dedicated team were integral to delivering high-quality eye care to our neighbors in need. By bridging advanced diagnostics with compassionate service, the Topcon team helped us identify critical vision issues and connect patients to life-changing follow-up care. This partnership affirms our shared commitment to ensuring that everyone, regardless of circumstances, has access to the vision care they deserve.”

Topcon’s Technology Delivers Speed, Accuracy, and Patient Satisfaction

The event showcased the capabilities of Topcon’s equipment, including the Chronos Automated Binocular Refraction System, SOLOS Automatic Lens Analyzer, and the Maestro2 Robotic OCT Fundus Camera with OCTA. Other innovative devices, like the TEMPO™ Binocular Perimeter and the NW-400 Fundus Camera, paired with the AI-powered AEYE-DS technology, ensured best-in-class clinical results. The NW-400 and AEYE-DS technology demonstrated exceptional accuracy and speed, capturing high-quality retinal images in just a few seconds and providing immediate diagnostic results. This level of efficiency in diabetic retinopathy screening makes the experience both quick and enjoyable for patients.

A technician performs a screening with the Topcon NW400 Retinal Camera.  

Discover How Topcon’s Harmony®, Chronos, Maestro2, and Other Innovations Are Revolutionizing Accessible Eye Care

This collaboration underscores a shared mission to make advanced eye care accessible to everyone. Through its Healthcare from the Eye initiative, Topcon is transforming the delivery of healthcare. By uniting cutting-edge technology and dedicated professionals, Topcon, UPMC, and Mission of Mercy Pittsburgh demonstrated the transformative power of collaboration, breaking down barriers to ensure vision care reaches those in need.

Explore the Topcon technology that was used in the Mission of Mercy Pittsburgh event:

  • Topcon Harmony® ­­­– Clinical Data and Workflow Management Platform
  • SOLOS ­­­– Automatic Lens Analyzer
  • Chronos ­­­– Automated Binocular Refraction System
  • Maestro2 ­­­– Robotic OCT Fundus Camera with OCTA
  • TEMPO™ ­­­– Binocular Perimeter
  • NW-400 Fundus Camera with AEYE ­­­– Autonomous Screening for Diabetic Retinopathy­­­­

Recent Posts