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Google Artificial Intelligence Eye Tests

Could artificial intelligence help fight blindness? The NHS is collaborating with Google to find out

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By Rebecca Stewart, Trends Editor

July 6, 2016 | 2 min read

The NHS is pairing up with Google’s artificially intelligent image software DeepMind for a new medical research partnership that could play a “big role in tackling avoidable sight loss.”

Google AI eye tests

The NHS is teaming up with Google's DeepMind to help prevent sight loss

Specialists at the NHS-funded Moorfields Eye Hospital in London will use DeepMind, the internet giant’s machine learning project, to research whether the technology can help detect and prevent eye diseases and blindness.

DeepMind will be applied to one million anonymous eye scans to look for early signs of eye conditions that humans might miss such as macular degeneration and retinal conditions caused by diabetes. The end goal of the research is to create a more efficient method by which to analyse data and come to an earlier diagnosis for patients.

The number of people suffering from sight loss in the UK is predicted to double by 2050, and the project marks Google’s first machine learning collaboration with healthcare specialists.

“We set up DeepMind because we wanted to use AI to help solve some of society's biggest challenges, and diabetic retinopathy is the fastest growing cause of blindness worldwide. There are more than 350 million sufferers across the planet,” said Mustafa Suleyman, co-founder of DeepMind.

“I really believe that one day this work will be a great benefit to patients across the NHS. We are proud of our NHS, and this is one of the ways I think we can help nurses and doctors continue to provide world-class care.”

Google Artificial Intelligence Eye Tests

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