Approved Research
Virtual biomarkers of the eye in chronic systemic disorders
Lay summary
Aims: The primary objective of this project is to explore the associations between retinal imaging biomarkers and chronic systemic disorders in order to develop an artificial intelligence (AI) model for screening and predicting chronic systemic disorders through ocular imaging, using the data from UK Biobank.
Scientific rationale: The prevalence of chronic systemic disorders is projected to increase steadily with an aging population. These chronic systemic disorders are often irreversible, resulting in loss of productivity and reduction in quality of life, which lead to a huge cost both for the patients and for the society. However, despite the heavy burden of these chronic systemic disorders like dementia, effective pharmacological treatments are yet to be developed, which further emphasizes the importance of effective screening, prevention and early diagnose. Ophthalmology examinations can be a non-invasive, easy and effective way to reveal the influence of chronic diseases to the systematic health. We aim to use ocular imaging as a tool to identify and predict chronic systematic disorders at early stage.
The UK Biobank is a database with a large volume of participants that are highly demographic variated. The UK Biobank can provide us with the data breadth and depth needed to train an AI model in order to gain a deeper insight into the association between ocular imaging and chronic systemic disorders. The extensive dataset from the UK Biobank will allow in-depth analysis and comparison to be made between populations from different races and social economical background.
Public health impact: This project will provide new insights into the link between ocular imaging and some major chronic systemic diseases such as hypertension, diabetes mellitus and dementia. An early detection model will be developed for screening, benefiting millions of people who are at risk of chronic systemic disorders worldwide. Early diagnosis and intervention of these chronic systemic disorders will lead to delayed onset of major diseases, improving patients' quality of life, and reducing socioeconomic burden associated with the disease in the long term.