Scientists have unveiled an artificial intelligence system that can identify more than 50 eye diseases as accurately as medical experts.
Developed by researchers at Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, DeepMind Health and University College London (UCL) Institute of Ophthalmology, the system successfully examined thousands of historic de-personalised eye scans to identify features of eye disease, such as age-related macular degeneration and diabetic eye disease, and recommended their referrals.
It is hoped that the breakthrough, published online by Nature Medicine last night, could transform the way professionals carry out eye tests, allowing them to spot conditions earlier and prioritise patients with the most serious eye diseases before irreversible damage sets in.
Dr Pearse Keane, consultant ophthalmologist at Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and NIHR clinician scientist at the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology said: “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.”
The study, which was launched in 2016, used two types of neural network and the AI system quickly learned to identify ten features of eye disease from highly complex optical coherence tomography (OCT) scans. The system was then able to recommend a referral decision based on the most urgent conditions detected.
Clinicians also viewed the same OCT scans and made their own referral decisions and the study concluded that AI was able to make the right referral recommendation more than 94% of the time, matching the performance of expert clinicians.
The AI has two unique features that can assist eye professionals: it can provide information such as visuals of the features of eye disease it has identified on the OCT scan and the level of confidence the system has in its recommendations, in the form of a percentage.
It can also be applied to different types of eye scanner, which could significantly increase the number of people who benefit from the technology.
If clinical trials are successful in demonstrating that the technology can be used safely and effectively, Moorfields will be able to use a regulatory-approved product for free across all 30 of their UK hospitals and community clinics, for an initial period of five years.
Professor Sir Peng Tee Khaw, director of the NIHR Biomedical Research Centre at Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and UCL Institute of Ophthalmology said: “The results of this pioneering research with DeepMind are very exciting and demonstrate the potential sight-saving impact AI could have for patients.”
Matt Hancock, Health and Social Care Secretary, added: “This is hugely exciting and exactly the type of technology which will benefit the NHS in the long term and improve patient care.”
Nature Medicine 13 August 2018
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