Scientists have developed a new AI tool for instant Glaucoma screening that can be completed within seconds.
Findings of the research published in Nature on 27 February show that the tool known as the AI-based Glaucoma Screening (AI-GS) network will soon be available for use to ease Glaucoma screening and treatment.
Helping protect eyesight
Glaucoma is one of the most dangerous eye diseases in the world, being the leading cause of irreversible blindness in Japan and worldwide.
To effectively treat it, early detection is critical, as the disease progresses silently, slowly constricting one’s peripheral field of vision.
For most patients, the disease isn’t noticed until serious and irreversible damage has been done, leaving doctors with little to no solutions in sight.
Also, mass screening and access to medical care is rare, hence the need for a more effective and versatile method of screening.
Professor Toru Nakazawa of Tohoku University in Japan where the tool was developed said:
“This is why we developed a new, quick, portable testing method. It analyzes multiple key indicators of glaucoma, integrates the findings, and determines the presence of the disease with unprecedented precision”
Developed by a research team led by Nakazawa and Associate Professor Parmanand Sharma at the Graduate School of Medicine in Tohoku University, AI-GS network was tested on a dataset of 8,000 fundus images of the back of the eye where glaucomatous damage occurs.
An impressive performance
The tool achieved an impressive 93.52% sensitivity at 95% specificity, a level comparable to expert ophthalmologists.
It is specifically designed to detect early-stage glaucoma, even in cases where fundus abnormalities are subtle and difficult to recognize.
The pocket-sized device only uses a memory of 110 MB, and can be used on a mobile device and in all sorts of public places such as train stations or remote areas with limited access to ophthalmologists.
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