Eye Disease Screening Algorithm Launched In India-Acri India

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Verily, the Life Sciences unit of Google parent
Alphabet, has developed, with Google, a machine
learning algorithm that can assess images for
diabetic eye diseases. This automated screening
tool checks for two leading causes of blindness
seen in India diabetic retinopathy and
diabetic macular edema. The goal of detecting
these diseases with the tool is to expand access
to screening and detecting these ailments as soon
as possible to bring about better and quicker
treatments.
Diagnostics based on the usage of artificial
intelligence holds the promise of expanding
limited healthcare resources to reach more
people, thus directing more patients who need
specialist care into the right professional
hands. In April, FDA approved the first
autonomous artificial intelligence diagnostic
system in the US, where the cloud -based IDx-DR
software detected diabetic retinopathy in images
taken by retinal cameras. But, in India, with
the shortage of eye doctors and limited screening
of people with diabetes, eye diseases often go
undiagnosed and untreated. This is why Verily
came up with this clinical research program
focused on India, where the algorithm is shown to
be on par
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with the assessment of images for eye diseases
with general ophthalmologists and retinal
specialists. In fact, this algorithm has also
received the CE approval. In this retinal
diagnostic program, a technician is required to
take one image per eye using a fundus camera.
The pictures are them uploaded via a management
software. The screening algorithm assesses the
images for diabetic retinopathy and diabetic
macular edema. The results are rapid, which
helps the technician to decide whether the
patient must be referred to a specialist eye
doctor or not. These efforts are being focused
more on how the program can be extended to
vision centers in remote and rural communities,
where about 70 of Indias population lives. At
present, Verily has launched this algorithm at
Aravind Eye Hospital in Madurai, India. Now, it
is launching a study with Rajavithi Hospital,
operated by the Ministry of Public Health in
Thailand, to study the usage of this algorithm in
a national screening program for diabetic
retinopathy. Furthermore, Verily is also
collaborating with Nikon and its subsidiary
Optos, to evaluate additional geographies where
machine learning tools for diabetic eye disease
screening can have an impact. In August, a study
of Googles DeepMind artificial intelligence
system, which was developed in partnership with
Moorfields Eye Hospital in the UK, showed how the
technology could determine how patients should
be referred for more than 50 eye diseases, with
the same accuracy as a physician! Such amazing
is the world of medical and clinical research
that it is finding incredible ways to detect,
diagnose, and treat a variety of ailments that
havent found treatments earlier! If this is
your passion too, you need to build your career
in the field so that you can help your country
mates and many others abroad fight their ailments
and live a better future ahead. For this, you
need to undergo professional clinical research
online training in Bangalore from a reputed
institute like Avigna Clinical Research
Institute, who has been successfully bringing
out thousands of clinical research professionals,
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state-of-the-art facilities and a very skilled
staff.
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