AI-Powered Eye Scans Detect Parkinson's Disease Years Ahead

Eye scans driven by artificial intelligence (AI) could detect Parkinson's disease before symptoms appear, suggested a study. AI was utilized by teams from London's Moorfields Eye Hospital and the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology to analyze a dataset and identify retinal markers. The procedure discovered physical variations in the eyes of those with Parkinson's disease and those who did not have the ailment.

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Parkinson's Disease Markers Revealed in Eye Scans Years Before Symptoms Appear

The researchers examined data from optical coherence tomography (OCT), a type of 3D scan that gives a highly detailed image of the cross-section of the retina, from a cohort of 154,830 individuals aged 40 and up who visited eye hospitals in London between 2008 and 2018. The procedure was performed using data from a medical database, and 67,311 healthy participants aged 40 to 69 were evaluated. The researchers discovered that persons with Parkinson's had a weaker ganglion cell-inner plexiform layer and inner nuclear layer in their eyes. It discovered these markers seven years before clinical manifestation, on average.

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Early Detection of Parkinson's Disease Through Eye Layer Analysis

OCT scans, which are commonly used by opticians, are beneficial for monitoring eye health since they reveal layers of cells beneath the skin's surface. Looking at these layers in the years before symptoms appear, according to the researchers, could help diagnose the disease early.

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Eye Scans Can Aid Early Disease Detection

Siegfried Wagner, a clinical research fellow at Moorfields and the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology researcher said, "I continue to be amazed by what we can discover through eye scans. Finding signs of several diseases before symptoms emerge means that, in the future, people could have the time to make lifestyle changes to prevent some conditions arising, and clinicians could delay the onset and impact of life-changing neurodegenerative disorders."

Louisa Wickham, Moorfields' medical director said, "Using imaging across a wider population could have a huge impact on public health in the future with the potential for "predictive analysis". OCT scans are more scalable, non-invasive, lower cost and quicker than brain scans for this purpose."

The outcomes of the experiment were reported in Neurology, the official journal of the American Academy of Neurology (1^✔ ✔Trusted Source
Eye scans detect signs of Parkinson's disease up to seven years before diagnosis

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Eye Scans Are Non-Invasive Gateways to Detecting Neurodegenerative Disorders

Claire Bale, associate director of research at Parkinson's UK said, "Intervening earlier to stop the loss of precious brain cells is the key to preventing the condition. And because the eye scans analyzed in this study are non-invasive and already in routine use, this could be easily put into practice in the NHS."

Data from eye scans, according to Moorfields, have previously identified indicators of other neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's, multiple sclerosis, and schizophrenia.

Reference:

1. Eye scans detect signs of Parkinson's disease up to seven years before diagnosis - (https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/08/230821174246.htm)

Source-Medindia