Pearse Keane presentation February 2023

Google’s DeepMind and Moorfields Eye Hospital – just two stops apart on the London Underground – are transforming global eyecare with AI, delegates to the OSA stand at 100% Optical heard.

Pearse Keane, Professor of Artificial Intelligence, University College London and Moorfields retinal disease specialist, told delegates that artificial intelligence (AI) is going “from code to clinic” with optometry and ophthalmology at the forefront of all healthcare sectors.

Pearse confirmed that optical coherence tomography (OCT) imaging has become the dominant ocular modality with more images acquired per year than from all other modalities combined, and with Moorfields Eye Hospital acquiring more than 1,000 OCT scans a day.

“We believe that the NHS has the largest amount of data in one resource in the world – the challenge is how we analyse this and make clinical judgements. It is a great opportunity, particularly in view of the fact that, since 2017, ophthalmology has overtaken orthopaedics as the number one specialty for appointments, with a 37% increase in appointments over the last five years,” said Pearse.

“The promise of AI is how we bring world-class expertise out of specialised hospitals and into the community and homes of patients.”