Diagnosing eye disease is a costly and inefficient process, the time it takes to schedule an appointment, attend for a scan, analyse those  scans – combined with the sheer number of scans that healthcare professionals have to go through (over 1,000 a day at Moorfields alone), can lead to lengthy delays between scan and treatment – even when someone needs urgent care.

If they develop a sudden problem, such as a bleed at the back of the eye, these delays could even cost patients their sight.

Currently, eyecare professionals use optical coherence tomography (OCT) scans to help diagnose eye conditions. These 3D images provide a detailed map of the back of the eye, but they are hard to read and need expert analysis to interpret.

But not anymore.

The AI Will See You Now

DeepMind, the artificial intelligence company which was acquired by Google in 2014, and is synonymous with beating the World’s best Chess and Go players, have developed a new AI system to address this challenge.

Not only can it automatically detect the features of eye diseases in seconds, but it can also prioritise patients most in need of urgent care by recommending whether they should be referred for treatment. DeepMind insists that this instant triaging process should drastically cut down the time elapsed between the scan and treatment, helping sufferers of diabetic eye disease and age-related macular degeneration avoid sight loss.

By partnering with Moorfields, the DeepMind researchers want this new system to help improve care, reduce some of the strain on clinicians, and lower costs – all at the same time.

Currently under clinical trials, if the new technology is validated then Moorfields will be able to use it for free across all 30 of their UK hospitals and community clinics, for an initial period of five years.

These clinics serve 300,000 patients a year and receive over 1,000 OCT scan referrals every day – each of which could benefit from improved accuracy and speed of diagnosis. Moorfields Eye Hospital says the technology can recommend the best path of treatment for more than 50 diseases with 94% accuracy.

Dr Pearse Keane, consultant ophthalmologist at Moorfields Eye Hospital said “The number of eye scans we’re performing is growing at a pace much faster than human experts are able to interpret them.

“There is a risk that this may cause delays in the diagnosis and treatment of sight-threatening diseases, which can be devastating for patients.

“The AI technology we’re developing is designed to prioritise patients who need to be seen and treated urgently by a doctor or eye care professional.

“If we can diagnose and treat eye conditions early, it gives us the best chance of saving people’s sight. With further research, it could lead to greater consistency and quality of care for patients with eye problems in the future.”