Eye Scans Detect Parkinsons Disease Seven Years Before Symptoms Appear (1)
This is the kind of news we like to hear… AI enabling, “faster, cheaper, earlier” in medicine. Maybe Meta should be paying attention (they cut their AI protein folding medical research as it wasn’t ‘commercial enough’).
Scientists have unveiled a groundbreaking eye scan, powered by artificial intelligence, that can spot markers of Parkinson's disease a whopping seven years before any symptoms manifest. This discovery, detailed in the journal Neurology, leverages the AlzEye dataset and the UK Biobank database to pinpoint these early indicators. The AlzEye dataset is a treasure trove of retinal images paired with clinical data. Historically, doctors have viewed the eye as a "window" into overall health. Now, with high-res retina images becoming standard in eye care, these scans can offer even deeper insights. The study revealed that thinner cell layers in the retina were linked to a higher risk of Parkinson's. Dr. Siegfried Wagner from University College London envisions this method as a potential pre-screening tool for those at risk, emphasizing its advantages over brain scans in terms of cost, speed, and scalability.
