Role of artificial intelligence and machine learning in ophthalmology

Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) have entered several avenues of modern life, and health care is just one of them. Ophthalmology is a field with a lot of imaging and measurable data, thus ideal for application of AI and ML. Many of these are still in research stage, but show promising results. The ophthalmic diseases where AI is being used are diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma, age-related macular degeneration, retinopathy of prematurity, retinal vascular occlusions, keratoconus, cataract, refractive errors, retinal detachment, squint, and ocular cancers. It is also useful for intraocular lens power calculation, planning squint surgeries, and planning intravitreal antivascular endothelial growth factor injections. In addition, AI can detect cognitive impairment, dementia, Alzheimer's disease, stroke risk, and so on from fundus photographs and optical coherence tomography. We will surely see many more innovations in this rapidly growing field.