implEYE – imaging platform for professional eye care

Duration: 2021 - 2024

Principal Investigator (UMIT TIROL): Univ.-Prof. Dr. Daniel Baumgarten

Cooperation Partners:

• OCCYO GmbH
• eyecre.at GmbH

Funding:  The project is funded by the state of Tyrol

Goal:

The aim of this project is to use the Cornea Dome Lens (CDL) Ocular Imaging System as an innovative imaging technology and develop a diagnostic standard, that can be used in telemedicine, by integrating intelligent algorithms. This system allows the documentation of the entire curved surface of the eye and their pathological processes in a standardized and high-resolution color photograph for the first time. The potential of the preliminary technological work is to be implemented in a tele-ophthalmological imaging platform with focus on the eye surface. Central ophthalmological parameters such as the degree of redness and the extent of eye dryness are measured precisely and quantified for the first time independently of a doctor. This new level of objectivity and scientific networking opens completely new possibilities for ophthalmological patient care in the public health system and for international collaboration in clinical research.

The digitization of medicine requires comprehensive standardization of the diagnostic procedures used. The increasing international legalization of telemedicine has rapidly accelerated the research and development of IT-based intelligent medical diagnostic systems. The medical field of ophthalmology is particularly affected by this development since this field is heavily dependent on digital imaging and communication. Fundus photography, optical coherence tomography, scanning laser ophthalmoscopy and Scheimpflug technology have found their way into basic diagnostics in ophthalmology in the past decade and allow the generation and reliable analysis of high-resolution, standardized digital image data in everyday clinical practice. To a similar extent, the use of non-standardized processes such as manual sketching, biomicroscopic grading and color photographic documentation has lost its clinical importance. These methods are only suitable to a limited extent for monitoring chronic diseases, due to poor reproducibility, limited quantifiability and missing digitization.

Due to its key function, the CDL offers the potential of a comprehensive, ophthalmological image database and thus opens the doors for an interprofessional platform for networking optometrists, resident ophthalmologists and highly specialized competence centers. In order to be able to exploit this potential, new functions such as fluorescence imaging are also being taken into account in the further development of the CDL. In addition, based on the system, algorithms for automatic image analysis for the objective determination of the degree of redness and for the detection of pathological structures are being developed. An innovative 3D printing process is established for the generation of reference eye models, which can be used to evaluate imaging and analysis. In two clinical studies, these are to be evaluated and based on this, expanded diagnostic, monitoring and prediction approaches using artificial intelligence to be developed. The end point is the conception of a telemedical imaging platform of the surface of the eye and the prototypical implementation of an expert platform for the exchange of digital image and diagnostic data. The technological background of the consortium partners provides the key competencies required for the successful implementation in the field of medical technology, additive manufacturing processes, medical image processing, artificial intelligence, telemedicine and ophthalmological expertise.