Camelia Bhattacharyya, Amity University Kolkata
It is often said that a person’s confidence is measured through the amount of eye contact it makes. In an interview or even a group discussion or any performance, eye contact is something that drives the attention. But what if a person loses his/her sight? All the beauty of the world, the new research, and developments and also the growth and changes in the civilization would be something he/she would not be able to experience properly. But when it comes to modernization and growth, it is science we speak about, and science as we know finds a solution whatever the problem may be. A research team from the University College London (UCL) has recently shown how to test for wet age-related macular degeneration (wet AMD) which is a major cause leading to vision loss.
Wet AMD is a disorder that can cause a blind spot due to blood and fluid leakage, in the macula. If this leakage can be easily identified, and at its early stage, then further treatment can help in treating the cause, thus restricting the disease (blindness) from even appearing. The new research focuses on using artificial intelligence (AI) to detect wet AMD 3 years before the arrival of the first symptoms. The Detection of Apoptosing Retinal Cells (DARC) is based on fluorescent tagging where the damaged endothelial cells of the retina region show a specific level of fluorescence. AI is then used to predict the minute difference in the fluorescently tagged cells to predict future disturbances even before they arise.
This process uses an old technology (DARC), combines it with a new one (AI), and creates a miracle that can act as a scientific boon to patients with a disease that was considered untreatable 2 decades ago.
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Source: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/2020/dec/ai-supported-test-predicts-eye-disease-three-years-symptoms
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