What could AI mean for the future of eye care?

Artificial intelligence can already help eye care providers detect eye conditions. Soon, it may be able to help them do even more with their patients.

New technology is changing many parts of health care, including eye care. And nowhere is that truer than with artificial intelligence, or AI.

Today, AI is like a super-smart assistant for eye care providers. It can helmay be able to do in the future. Eye care providers are already developing eye medications that can “tell” low vision patients what dose to take. They’re also working on smart contact lenses that can track health information.

It may sound unbelievable. But the future of AI in eye care is just around the corner.

AI’s role in eye care today

There are many ways that AI is helping eye care providers already. Here are a few of the most common:

Finding problems early. AI can quickly review images from screening tests. It looks for patterns and spots changes (changes in what?) long before symptoms occur. Then it tells patients who may need more tests or follow-up care. This is especially true for serious eye conditions, like glaucoma or age-related macular degeneration (AMD), where AI is increasingly used alongside regular exams.¹ But it’s also effective for other eye issues,² including:

Refractive errors, like near- or farsightedness
“Lazy eye” (amblyopia)
Eyes that are misaligned (strabismus)

Helping with identifying diseases. Because changes in the back of the eye can happen slowly, they’re easier to miss. AI can act as a safety net to help eye care providers catch them¹. On the flip side, AI can also help confirm a suspected diagnosis, acting almost like a second opinion ².

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AI and eye care: What’s coming next

There are many new AI tools coming for eye care providers and their patients. Here are a few examples of how the technology may transform vision care:

AI may predict future problems. AI can help detect nearsightedness (myopia) now. But researchers are also exploring whether AI can predict how much vision will change over time.² The earlier progressive nearsightedness is spotted, the sooner eye care providers can begin treatment and help prevent it from getting worse. This would be especially useful in children, whose eyesight can change so quickly.

It may help detect dry eyes.² There’s no simple test that reveals dry eyes. But AI may be able to help analyze data from various parts of the eye to help predict the condition and measure how severe it is. Scientists are using AI to:

Check images of the oil glands in the eyelid to see how healthy they are. These oil glands keep tears from drying out.
Measure the quality of tears to see if they’re irritating the eyes.
Measure blinking rates and analyze videos of the cornea to see if the layers of the tears are spread evenly or break up too quickly

All these capabilities may one day help speed up diagnosis and treatment.

AI may suggest personalized treatments for people with AMD. Many patients with “wet” age-related macular degeneration (AMD) rely on injections to manage the disease. But the timing and spacing of these injections is different for every patient. AI can help eye care providers find the best time for each person. It can look at medical records and scans. This AI tool is already being used in Europe in certain pilot programs.³

It may create “smart” medications. People with low vision have a tough time reading the tiny print on the labels of their eye drops. AI has already helped power an app that can “read” these labels out loud. A future version of the app may be able to give patients instructions on when and how often to use the eye drop.⁴

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Smart contact lenses that track health information. While most are still in the research phase, the possibilities of what these lenses may do is exciting. Here’s what’s being developed:

Soft contact lenses designed for people with glaucoma, diabetes and conditions like Parkinson’s disease. As people go about their day, the contact lenses may pick up changes in eye pressure or blood sugar levels.⁵
Smart lenses designed for people with poor eyesight. These lenses can be paired with Bluetooth technology and smartphones. That can help people get around. It can also “read” text aloud.⁶

At-home scanning devices. There’s already a device for people with glaucoma. People can hold it up to their eye to test eye pressure levels.⁷

There’s also a device that scans the back of the eye of people with AMD and produces an image. All of this takes 45 seconds. People can do this every day and store the images in the cloud. AI then scans the images looking for changes. If there’s fluid in the eye, the eye care provider also looks at the scan. Then they call the patient to evaluate them in person.⁸

AI won’t replace human eye care providers. But they can serve as valuable assistants. And that’s good news for patients.

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