At our latest coffee hour, we heard from Dr Charles Cleland, who is an ophthalmologist at Moorfields Eye Hospital and a clinical research fellow at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. He spoke passionately about the role of new artificial intelligence (AI) technologies in providing equitable access to eye care globally.
First, Dr Cleland gave us a crash course in AI and why it is so helpful in our heavily image-based field. One area where AI is making a real difference is managing Sub-Saharan Africa’s rapid increase in diabetic retinopathy (DR), driven by urbanisation and lifestyle changes. It is crucial for diabetics to be screened early for DR, which if left untreated causes blindness. By the time a patient experiences DR symptoms, the vision is already lost.
In a Tanzanian hospital, AI is helping shift screening from specialists to community-based care, bypassing the country’s shortage of ophthalmologists and strained resources. Dr Cleland’s programme can deliver accurate on-the-spot screening results. This helps tackle key service challenges, such as reaching patients and reducing missed appointments. Delivering high-quality eye care locally and cheaply.
If you would like to dive deeper into the AI work at our BRC, we are also exploring using simple eye scans to diagnose conditions of the mind and body.
The next Coffee Hour will be on 20 Nov from 3 -4 pm at the Coffee Junction near the hospital, with researcher Dr Paul Nderitu, who investigates the use of AI to detect and predict diabetic eye disease.