Visual acuity test uses AI to predict mountain degeneration

A new vision test that uses artificial intelligence AI to study retinal scans can predict age-related macular degeneration (AMD) three years before symptoms begin.

The first part of a “pioneering” test developed by University College researchers London, Called DARC.

DARC injects pigment into a person’s bloodstream to illuminate the “stressed” endothelial cells of the retina, so it looks bright white under a fluorescent camera.

These “stressed” retinal cells can cause abnormalities, which can later leak blood vessels, cause AMD, and significantly impair central vision.

The second part of the test is trained to use an AI algorithm to detect if the highlighted white spots are around the macula. This indicates that AMD is at high risk.

AI is more objective and consistent than the judgment of a human clinician, and can even analyze thousands of images of the retina.

Researchers say their tests can be used to identify the disease early enough so that treatment can effectively prevent vision loss.

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DARC (Detection of Apoptotic Retinal Cells) injects fluorescent dyes that attach to retinal cells into the bloodstream (via the arm) and is stressed or in the process of apoptosis, programmed cell death. Illuminates the form of.

AMD does not cause complete blindness, but it can make daily activities such as reading and recognizing faces difficult.

There are two types of AMD – “dry” AMD and more severe “wet” AMD. This is the most common cause of permanent and severe vision loss in the United Kingdom.

Wet AMD is commonly caused by abnormal blood vessels that leak fluid and blood into the retina.

Specifically, fluid and blood leak into the macula, which is part of the retina that causes central vision.

This can blur your vision and create blind spots.

On the other hand, dry AMD, which blurs or diminishes central vision due to the thinning of the macula, is more common and less severe, but can progress to wet AMD.

Currently, the diagnosis of wet AMD depends on the person developing the condition, which leads to the consultation of a clinician.

Initially, people with wet AMD notice distorted vision and usually interfere with reading. This progresses very quickly and can lead to complete loss of central vision.

“The introduction of new treatments has significantly improved patient outcomes for diseases that were considered untreatable more than 20 years ago,” the University College London (UCL) said in a statement. I am.

“But if treatment is started at a very early stage of the disease, patient outcomes can be even better.”

The first part of the test is called “Detection of Apoptotic Retinal Cells” (DARC).

DARC injects fluorescent dyes that attach to retinal cells into the bloodstream (through the arm) to illuminate a form of programmed cell death that is stressed or in the process of apoptosis.

Damaged cells appear bright white on eye examination. The more damaged cells are detected, the higher the “DARC count”.

Age mountain degeneration (AMD) is a condition that can cause blurring or loss of vision in the center of the visual field.It is the main cause of blindness

One challenge in assessing eye disease is that experts can disagree when viewing the same scan. That’s why experts have incorporated AI algorithms into their methods.

This AI was already used earlier this year to detect the progression of glaucoma 18 months earlier than the current gold standard method.

In this study, researchers evaluated 19 study participants who were already showing signs of AMD, but not necessarily in both eyes.

The AI ​​has been newly trained to detect the formation of new leaking blood vessels that correspond to the spots detected by DARC.

According to a new analysis, DARC can uniquely highlight the endothelial cells that line blood vessels under stress on the retina.

These stressed cells then use conventional eye scans with optical coherence tomography (OCT) to see future wet AMD activity with leakage and new blood vessel formation seen in patients after 3 years. Predict.

Close up the head of a young patient with an optical coherence tomography (OCT) device. OCT takes a detailed image of the retina

OCT is a non-invasive diagnostic technique that displays a cross-sectional view of the retina.

OCTs usually detect only fluid that is already leaking from the blood vessels. This happens months after the blood vessels are established.

However, DARC identifies endothelial cells that lead to the formation of leaking blood vessels, leading to a much earlier diagnosis.

Researchers have found that their tests may help detect new lesions in AMD-affected people, often the opposite unaffected eye, and ultimately certain. It states that it may help screen people over the age or with known risk factors.

“The importance of the AI ​​element is that it is a rigorous way of defining DARC spots,” said Francesca Cordero, a senior researcher who is a professor of ophthalmology at UCL.

“Our results are very promising as they show that DARC can be used as a biomarker for wet AMD when combined with AI-assisted algorithms.

“Our new test can predict up to 36 months before the onset of new wet AMD lesions, which is enormous.

“This means that DARC’s activities will allow clinicians to treat patients at higher risk of new lesions of wet AMD and can also be used as screening tools more intensively.”

The research team wants to continue the study in clinical trials with more participants and also investigate trials for other eye diseases.

DARC has been commercialized by Novai, a newly established company based in London, where Professor Cordeiro is Chief Scientific Officer.

The results of the study are published in Review by molecular diagnostic experts..

Injections that may improve fading sites in aged eyes begin training humans

Nanoscope researchers Samalendra Mohanti and Subrata Batavir.The company’s newly developed light-sensing protein restores vision in blind mice when attached to bipolar cells.

Scientists are using gene therapy to restore vision in blind mice and will begin clinical trials of the technology later this year.

The key to this process is a light-sensing protein called MCO1 opsin. It restores vision when it attaches to specific cells behind the eyes.

These so-called bipolar cells remain intact in people with common eye diseases and are part of the sensory pathway for light perception and vision.

Studies by the US company Nanoscope have shown that completely blind mice without light perception regain significant retinal function and visual acuity after treatment.

Processed mice were faster in laboratory visual tests, such as navigating the maze and detecting movement changes.

In humans, it is treated as a single injection into the eye of the elderly with age-related macular degeneration and retinitis pigmentosa (RP).

Treatment of Nanoscope requires a single injection of the modified virus into the eye. This causes retinal cells to produce a light-sensing protein (MCO1 opsin). It restores vision when it attaches to the bipolar cells behind the eyes.

“People’s clinical research helps us understand how signaling through bipolar cells affects vision quality,” said Subrata Batabyal, a research author at Texas-based company Nanoscope. ..

“For example, how well a well-handled eye can pick up a fast-moving object.”

The researchers found nothing about the safety issues of the treated mice, and blood and tissue tests found no signs of treatment-induced inflammation.

In the best scenario, this therapy may help the patient achieve 20/60 vision. That is, 20 feet to see what a person with normal vision can see at 60 feet.

However, the team is uncertain how restored vision is compared to the normal vision of people with healthy eyes.

“If this optogenetic approach, which uses cells stored in the degenerated retina, can be proven to be effective in restoring human vision beyond the perception of light, it will be artificial to people with late retinitis pigmentosa. It has the potential to provide a valuable alternative to the retinal approach, “says Paek Gyu Lee. At the National Institutes of Health that funded the project.

Various common eye diseases, including age-related macular degeneration and RP, damage the photoreceptors that impair vision (light-responsive retinal cells).