Researchers in Scotland have teamed up with optometrists in a groundbreaking collaboration, to develop a new AI tool to determine dementia risk from retinal scans. The technology is the focus of work by the NeurEYE research team, led by the University of Edinburgh, with Glasgow Caledonian University.
In an effort to create a large-scale dataset optimal for AI analysis, the research team have already collected almost a million anonymised eye scans from a collaboration with opticians across Scotland.
Using AI and Machine Learning, they will be able to analyse the image data, linked to other relevant data – such as demographics, pre-existing conditions and treatment history. The technology will allow researchers to identify patterns that could indicate a person’s risk of developing dementia, as well as determine a broader picture of their brain health.
Approval comes from the Public Benefit and Privacy Panel for Health and Social Care, a part of NHS Scotland and the data will be held safely in the Scottish National Safe Haven, commissioned by Public Health Scotland, which provides a secure platform for the research use of NHS electronic data.
Professor Andrew Morris, Director of HDR UK, said: “The ability to identify dementia risk via routine eye tests would be a truly significant step forward, in our efforts to combat Alzheimer’s disease – already a significant public health issue, and predicted to affect 1.6 million people in the UK by 2050.”
