'A doctor in the palm of our hands Brother-sister duo create app to make virtual eye care possible in Bangladesh

University of Toronto
Oct 20, 2022


A brother-sister duo’s start-up has partnered with one of the largest eye hospitals in Bangladesh in an effort to make trips to the eye doctor completely virtual.

Pradipta and Purnashree Chowdhury, who come from a family of eye doctors, created the EyeBuddy app to deliver the vision screenings and eye tests used in most check-ups.

“We’re trying to make a whole ecosystem where a patient just sitting in their house can call up an ophthalmologist,” says Pradipta, who graduated from the University of Toronto Scarborough last year and was recently accepted into medical school. “Anyone can have a doctor 24-7 for immediate and certain eye issues.”

The app will also bring telehealth to eye doctors in the coming months, connecting patients across Bangladesh with ophthalmologists at a major eye-care hospital.

“In developing countries, transportation is a massive deal. The top hospitals cannot provide services to remote areas,” says Pradipta, who aspires to be an ophthalmologist like his father. “But we can have a doctor in the palm of our hands.”