Integrating artificial intelligence for better eye health in Africa: Potential challenges

Abstract

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the ability of a computer system to mimic the cognitive functions of the human brain. This emerging technology has rapidly expanded, and it is being applied in various fields, such as speech recognition, image, and video processing even in health systems assisting clinicians in decision-making for diagnosing and treating a wide range of diseases. In eye health, AI is mainly applied in the diagnosis and classification of the common diseases of the back of the eye, such as Diabetic Retinopathy (DR), Age-Related Macular Degeneration (ARMD), and glaucoma. Studies have reported the use of AI in detecting other eye diseases
such as cataracts, keratoconus, and others. For the past decades, efforts have been made at the global scale to develop AI algorithms that could effectively diagnose DR. As of now, more than 400 AI-based DR screening algorithms exist, yet only a few are currently used in theclinical practice.