Globally, more than 285 million patients suffer from different sorts of eye disease or sight loss. To identify the signs, many eye doctors tend to use machine-learning technology to recommend the best treatment. DeepMind, which is owned by Google, is an artificial intelligence firm. Marking a technological breakthrough in the domain of ophthalmology, DeepMind has designed an AI system to accurately identify fifty types of different eye conditions as an eye doctor can.
DeepMind’s AI system
The innovative system is capable of not only detecting 3D retinal scans, but also analyzing them. Through analysis it identifies and diagnoses the early signs of various eye conditions, such as diabetic eye damage, macular degeneration, and glaucoma.
The AI system is a joint venture between Google and Moor fields Eye hospital. The collaboration is aimed at developing technology that could aid ophthalmologists and clinicians in improving eye care for patients.
The collaborative research started in 2016 in which researchers analyzed many de-personalized historic eye scans. Interestingly, the AI system recommended impeccable referral decisions for fifty eye diseases. All the results were 94 percent accurate and were published in Nature Medicine’s official website.
According to the cofounder of DeepMind, this high-tech system is very effective when it come to saving and improving eyesight.
It can interpret eye scans with an unprecedented accuracy. Plus, it can recommend how patients need to be referred to eye treatments for sight-threatening diseases.
There is no denying that AI system is capable of handling a variety of eye patients who come for routine clinical checkups. It can be a great help for ophthalmologists in prioritizing their patients who need an immediate treatment to retain their eyesight.
AI System in Hospitals
DeepMind wants different hospitals to use the authenticate version of AI technology for at least five years. The company provides the software that meets the important regulatory requirements. That means many big hospitals like NHS, are using the technology to perform eye scans specifically.
Ophthalmologists have found this IA system fast and accurate when it comes to interpreting scan results. The system helps doctors prevent unnecessary delays in the diagnosis of diseases as well as treatment of detrimental eye diseases.
Many eye doctors have reflected positively on the accurate diagnosis of the AI system. The impeccable system provides doctors the best chance to improve care and offer greater consistency to patients.
AI- A streamlined Process
Eye care professionals, with the help of OCT scans, can view a detailed map of different parts of the eye. Unlike traditional optical coherence that provides 3D images which were not only hard to interpret, but also causes delays in the treatment, AI systems give faster results. By automatically detecting eye diseases, it recommends whether a patient is in need of urgent treatment or not. This triaging process has transformed the way eye diseases are treated as it drastically reduces the time between diagnosis and the scan.
Bottom Line
Overall, Google’s AI system has revolutionized the treatment of various eye diseases. It is innovative, fast, accurate, and shows great potential for the future of eye care.
Sources
https://deepmind.com/blog/moorfields-major-milestone/
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/08/14/deepmind-uses-ai-to-detect-signs-of-eye-disease.html
