Google DeepMind To Use Machine Learning To Detect Eye Diseases Early
Google DeepMind has once again collaborated with NHS, this time to use machine learning technology for diagnosing degenerative eye diseases like diabetic retinopathy, early. They’r working Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust to make this possible. All the research work is done in collaboration with doctors and professional healthcare researchers.
Machine learning technology is a type of artificial intelligence, that can be used to analyse medical data, in order to find different ways to enhance how diseases are diagnosed and treated. The primary motive of using machine learning is to assist clinicians to give faster, better treatment to their patients.
Digital scans of the eye
Right now, Eye health professionals rely on digital scans of the eye to diagnose and determine the correct treatment for for serious eye conditions, like age-related macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy. Digital scans of the eye are non-invasive imaging tests that assist in assessing the retina, the tissue lining the back of the eye. Eye health professionals take the help of these scans to diagnose and provide treatment g including age-related macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy.
What is the problem with current eye scans?
The scans are highly complex and a lot of time is invested by health professionals to analyse them. This further delay in diagnosis and in letting know the patients to discuss diagnosis and possible treatment. Also, the traditional analysis tools have failed in exploring them completely.
How Machine Learning could help?
With the collaborative project, Google DeepMind and NHS is investigating how technology could help to better analyse these scans, that would giving doctors a better understanding of eye disease. They’re hoping that this will lead to earlier detection and treatment for patients, that would ultimately help to avoid cases of preventable eye disease.
As stated,
Professor Sir Peng Tee Khaw, Director of the National Institute for Health Research Specialist Biomedical Research Centre in Ophthalmology at Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, stated,
Our research with DeepMind has the potential to revolutionize the way professionals carry out eye tests and could lead to earlier detection and treatment of common eye diseases such as age-related macular degeneration. With sight loss predicted to double by the year 2050 it is vital we explore the use of cutting-edge technology to prevent eye disease.
We can expect that this research could surely benefit in diagnosing and exploring technologies to prevent eye diseases like Retinitis Pigmentosa, stargardt disease, etc, as well.
