Welch Allyn said Tuesday that it has acquired Knoxville, Tenn.-based Hubble Telemedical, a provider of remote eye exams for diabetic retinopathy.

Terms of the deal, which closed on Dec. 31, were not disclosed.

Diabetic retinopathy is the leading cause of blindness among working-age adults, but the risk of severe vision loss can be cut by 90 percent if the condition is detected and treated early. The problem, the Skaneateles Falls, N.Y., company says, is that half of diabetic patients don’t get annual retinal exams due to lack of specialist care or failure to adhere to a doctor’s referral.

Welch Allyn will use Hubble’s network to acquire and quality-check retinal images as part of a routine primary or convenient care visit. The images will be sent to specialists for a careful reading and diagnostic report, which will be sent back to the ordering healthcare provider. The company claims this approach has already increased compliance rates by as much as 100 percent in less than 12 months.

The Hubble Telemedical acquisition complements Welch Allyn’s other vision screening technologies such as the RETeval-DR, a handheld diabetic retinopathy assessment device, and the Spot Vision Screener, a handheld vision screener for amblyopic risk factors in children, the company said. — Kellen Owings