With the help of artificial intelligence (AI), Alzheimer’s disease may soon be detected through retinal scans in the optometrist’s office.
“As the saying goes, the eyes are the windows to the brain.” University of Saskatchewan “This is the part of our brain that has direct access to the outside world, which is our eyes,” University of Saskatchewan researcher Changiz Taghibiglou said Wednesday.
Taghibilou is working with University of Saskatchewan Researcher Sara Mardanisamani and a team of local doctors and scientists have developed a new non-invasive AI screening tool for early detection of Alzheimer's disease. The current test for people who already have symptoms is a lumbar puncture, which is used to extract a sample of cerebrospinal fluid.
“Right now, the ultimate test for Alzheimer's disease is postmortem,” Tajbiglu said. “That means when a person dies, brain tissue is available to a pathologist.”
Taghibiglou and Mardanisamani are training an artificial intelligence algorithm to recognize patterns of degeneration associated with Alzheimer’s disease. Over a two-year period, they will analyze decades-old retinal optical coherence tomography (OCT) scans from about 100 people who have recently been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. These scans will be compared with decades-old retinal scans from a control group of healthy people.
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“We will analyze the thickness of the optic nerve layer and the retinal layer and analyze changes in thickness,” Taghibiglou said.
Taghibiglou said their ultimate goal is to have the AI tool available for use in optometrists' offices and for patients' primary care doctors to be notified if the algorithm detects any abnormalities. The team hopes that if the disease can be detected years before signs and symptoms appear, action can be taken to improve patient outcomes.
“They can make lifestyle changes and get more physical activity to slow the progression of neurodegenerative diseases,” he said. “People can slow the progression of the disease and delay the onset of the disease.”
Their project, “Using non-invasive imaging and artificial intelligence to screen the eyes of Saskatchewan people for early detection of Alzheimer’s disease,” received a $150,000 impact grant from the Saskatchewan Health Research Foundation.
“We are very grateful. Without the funding, we would not be able to start this project. This is a huge support for our research.”
While the project focuses on detecting Alzheimer's, the researchers hope this type of work could be used in the future to detect other diseases, such as Parkinson's. The team hopes their research can be developed into a database or app that helps different clinicians collaborate on treating patients.
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