Enhancing Access to Glaucoma Care Using Artificial Intelligence

The goal of this project is to move toward more effective and equitable use of artificial intelligence in real-world glaucoma care.

Glaucoma is the most common cause of irreversible vision loss worldwide. A public health crisis is emerging due to the rapid rise in glaucoma prevalence, shortage of eyecare providers, and glaring access and equity issues. We propose to integrate teleophthalmology and artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the delivery of high-quality, reproducible, equitable, resource-efficient glaucoma care.

The vast majority of glaucoma AI algorithms have never left the laboratory or directly benefited patient care. Therefore, our primary objective is to demonstrate the benefits of AI implementation for glaucoma detection in a real-world glaucoma screening environment. This will provide vital evidence that AI algorithms can improve the quality and efficiency of glaucoma care, thereby providing a solution to the declining number of practicing ophthalmologists and increasing number of glaucoma patients.

We believe that our work will play a vital role in transforming how glaucoma care is delivered in the United States and worldwide. Our study will help establish AI-enhanced teleglaucoma care as a more convenient and resource-efficient alternative to traditional in-office glaucoma care. We foresee a future in which eye care will be delivered in more accessible settings (e.g. primary care clinics) so that high-risk patients can be detected and treated earlier to prevent severe irreversible glaucoma-related vision loss.