Introduction

Artificial intelligence can detect serious complications of diabetes by examining a patient’s eyes.

Modifying Equipment for Screening

Researchers from the University of Liverpool and Manchester Metropolitan University are modifying equipment currently used by street optometrists to screen for diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN).

Front Eye Nerve Scanning

It will work by scanning nerves in the front of the eye rather than the back, with the device’s AI component able to predict future damage.

Dr Ozman Alam, from the Institute of Life Cycle and Health Sciences at the University of Liverpool, said: “What we know from a working group that I have been active in over the past 15 to 20 years is that the nerves in the front of the eyes really actually reflects nerve damage elsewhere in the body.”

Understanding Diabetic Peripheral Neuropathy

DPN is known to be a serious complication of diabetes and the number one cause of limb amputations in diabetic patients. It occurs when high blood sugar damages the nerves that carry messages from the brain and spinal cord to the rest of the body.

Development of New Device

The team has been given £1.4 million to develop the new device, which is essentially an upgraded optical tomography (OCT) machine. The above device is an instrument used by optometrists to examine the back of the eye.

The test currently used to detect loss of sensation in the limbs of people with diabetes is called monofilament.

“Instead of taking nerve measurements, we can use the whole picture to detect nerve damage and actually predict who will develop it,” Dr. Alam said.

Rising Cases of Diabetes

In June, a study hypothesized that more than a billion people worldwide could be living with diabetes in the coming decades. A research article published in The Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology states that by 2050, about 1.3 billion people will develop diabetes, more than double the 529 million cases in 2021.

Future Clinical Trials

It is hoped that the study will be completed in 2027 and eventually lead to a pilot clinical trial testing both healthy and diabetic volunteers at Aintree University Hospital in Liverpool.

Dr. Alam expects AI to become “an important aspect of all healthcare systems at some point” but “further development will be required” before it can be widely adopted.

Source

Source: Daily Mail