AI algorithm that detects over 50 diseases from an eye scan, beating human doctors, tested by Google’s DeepMind
With doctors struggling to interpret the results of hi-tech eye scans, and referring patients unnecessarily to specialists, artificial intelligence could be the solution. Clinical trials of AI technology will begin next year in UK
Technology for scanning eyes is so advanced it has outstripped the ability of doctors to interpret the images it produces – meaning more patients than necessary are being referred to eye specialists, potentially delaying treatment for those at risk of going blind.
Artificial intelligence may come to the rescue. Deepmind, the AI company owned by Google’s parent company, Alphabet, trained artificial intelligence software to detect signs of disease better than human doctors, according to a study published on Monday in the scientific journal Nature Medicine.
DeepMind and its partners in the research, London’s Moorfields Eye Hospital and the University College London Institute of Ophthalmology, plan to develop a medical product that will help doctors detect more than 50 sight-threatening conditions from a common type of eye scan.
Clinical trials of the technology are scheduled to begin in 2019.
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If those trials are successful, DeepMind said it would seek to create a regulator-approved product that Moorfields could roll out across the UK. It said the product would be free for an initial five-year period.