Non-Invasive Eye Test of Multiple Diseases Gains $4.8M NIH Award

Scientists specializing in optometry and artificial intelligence at Indiana University have received support from a new program from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to support the emerging field of “oculomics,” which uses the eye as a lens for diseases that affect the whole body. This is one of the first three groups to gain support. 
 
Stephen A. Burns, a professor at the IU School of Optometry, has been named a principal investigator on a three-year, $4.8 million award from the NIH Venture Program Oculomics Initiative.
 
The project at IU will support the development of next-generation ophthalmoscopes — instruments to observe the interior of the eye. These instruments can spot early warning signs of diabetes, heart disease, kidney disease, sickle cell anemia, and Alzheimer’s disease via an eye scan. 
 
Co-investigators on the awarded project include Eleftherios Garyfallidis, an associate professor of intelligent systems engineering at the IU Luddy School of Informatics, Computing, and Engineering. Additional researchers include co-principal investigator Amani Fawzi of Northwestern University and co-investigators Alfredo Dubra of Stanford University and Toco Y. P. Chui of the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai.
 
The ophthalmoscope in Burns’ lab can observe the back of the human eye at the resolution of two microns — a scale small enough to show the real-time movement of red blood cells inside the eye’s arteries and veins. This technology has been used to identify biomarkers for diabetes and hypertension in the walls of the eye’s blood vessels.
 
Researchers from Northwestern and Mount Sinai have used similar technology to observe the cells both outside and inside these blood vessels, including spotting the crescent-shaped red blood cells found in sickle cell anemia. Stanford researchers have used adaptive optics to improve observation of the eye’s photoreceptors.
 
The research teams will integrate their projects into a singular device, as well as apply state-of-the-art machine learning and AI with project support from NIH.
 
In the first year of the project, the labs will align their instruments to the same level of sensitivity. Burns’ lab will integrate its technology with Northwestern’s instrument. Stanford will focus on technological integrations with the instrument at New York Eye and Ear.
 
In the second year, researchers will work on data validation to confirm the new instruments’ readings. The teams will also compare the new AI system’s interpretation of scans against the conclusions of human analysts to confirm accuracy.
 
The last year of the project will test the device on clinical volunteers.