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Any optician can do exactly the same thing during a simple check of your eyes. In this case I can’t see the benefit of this type of screening. The tool used by
by logronoide 9y ago
Any optician can do exactly the same thing during a simple check of your eyes.
In this case I can’t see the benefit of this type of screening. The tool used by the optician is just a cheap lantern, but only the tool needed by the computer is way more expensive.
- ridgeguy 9y agoPerhaps a cheap lens/illuminator attachment for smartphones could be engineered for retinal imaging. If this method could be adapted to phones, many more people could be checked at low cost.
- logronoide 9y agoIt already exists. Most opticians take a image of your retina and store it in the cloud for further analysis and tracking the evolution. In Spain (where I live) most opticians do not charge anything for this test, because it’s a minimal part of a typical prescription.
- froindt 9y agoThat's like a $40 upcharge at my optometrist (USA). But she is a good family friend, walks me through everything she's seeing on there, and gives me glowing compliments on how beautiful my optical nerve is. It sounds stupid, but I'm going to miss that when I go to my new optometrist.
- cortesoft 9y agoYeah, but I have great eyesight and haven't been to an optician in 15 years. However, I might still be at risk of a heart attack.
- logronoide 9y agoYou don’t need to visit an optician. A family doctor with a lantern can do it (and normally they do). It’s a very simple test. It’s not a ML or AI challenge at all.
- mkagenius 9y agoBut if you have AI, you do not need the optician/doctor. For example people in Poor countries have no access to such a person.
- JustSomeNobody 9y agoI don't think anyone would say don't build the AI/ML. Just that the technology already exists. Until then, people should continue to see their eye Dr when one is available to them.
- txcwpalpha 9y agoThere are a few startups/companies that specialize in going to poor countries and using lens attachments on cell phones to do eye exams. They send in people who aren't doctors, take a picture of the eye, and email/upload the pictures to doctors who can analyze it for issues. IIRC, in those situations, the problem isn't the accessibility to a doctor, but rather the accessibility to someone who has a device capable of imaging the eye. I imagine this would be the same. Replacing the doctor with an AI doesn't really solve the problem.
- skybrian 9y agoBut it might make it cheaper and more consistent. It's the same advantage as automating anything else.
- squiggleblaz 9y agoIt might be way easy to sell to a nineteen year old looking for a gap year activity. "Go to PNG, meet some people, save their life. Look, you just take a photo, and minutes later it says 'They need help'". The doctor reading the image is going to take days or who knows how long.
- candiodari 9y agoImaging the retina is not something that can be done by holding a phone to your eye, unless I'm mistaken. So you'd still need the optician/doctor, if only because they have necessary equipment.
- JustSomeNobody 9y agoYou might also be at risk for blindness! Please, please, please go see an eye Dr! It's isn't just about how clear your vision is. These are your eyes.
- ridgeguy 9y agoYes! Just to name one, glaucoma doesn't degrade vision in its early stages (when it's more easily treatable). There are so many things that can happen to your vision, at high life cost. Get your vision checked regularly.
- ceejayoz 9y agoI'd suspect the tools will eventually be dramatically cheaper than a trained optician. Put it in a pharmacy, grocery store, or other central location and people could screen weekly instead of once every couple years (assuming they even see an optician).
- logronoide 9y agoAs I have explained before, in Spain an optician does not charge anything for it because it’s ridiculously simple and it’s a small percentage of the effort that an optician needs to do for a prescription. This test is different of a blood test for example. You don’t need to control the evolution weekly, or even monthly. This is one of the most simple screening process. Because it’s easy to train the model with tons of images already made by opticians and optometrists. It does not have any value, it’s too simple. My brother is an optician and has a huge database with retina images. If even me with limited knowledge of ML and my brother as field expert could train a model to detect blood pressure problems. Too simple, no value.
- ceejayoz 9y agoYou're missing a very key point. Many people with normal eyesight never see an optician. They might use a kiosk at the grocery store. It's also a first step proof-of-concept towards harder diagnoses.
- logronoide 9y agoAs I said, not only opticians can do it. A family doctor with a lantern can do it (and they do). It’s not an ML or AI challenge at all.
- ceejayoz 9y agoThere are plenty of Americans who don't have access to a "family doctor". Not everyone can afford or bothers to get an annual checkup. Same reason grocery stores often have a "check your blood pressure" kiosk, or offer flu shots. It's quick, it's convenient, and you reach people who would otherwise miss out. Sure, a doctor or nurse can check your BP or give you the vaccine, but there's a significant benefit to expanded access.
- elbasti 9y agoWell, not really. The tool used by the optician is a $5 dollar lantern connected to a brain that had to go through a $300,000 dollar education.