Objective: To evaluate the accuracy of new generation artificial intelligence (AI)-based intraocular lens (IOL)power calculation formulas. Methods: This retrospective study included a total of 262 eyes from 262 patients with cataract who underwent uneventful phacoemulsification combined with IOL implantation. Keratometry, corneal white-to-white, central corneal thickness, anterior chamber depth, lens thickness, and axial length were measured by the IOL Master 700 before surgery. Predicted refractive errors were calculated by the third-generation formulas (SRK/T, Holladay 1, and Hoffer Q), Barrett UniversalⅡ (BUⅡ), and the newer-generation AI formulas (Kane, Pearl-DGS, Hill-RBF 3.0, Hoffer QST, and Jin-AI), and were compared with the actual postoperative refractive value. After adjusting the prediction error (PE) to zero, the standard deviation (SD), mean absolute error (MAE), median absolute error (MedAE), and the percentage of a PE within the range of ±0.25 diopter (D), ±0.50 D, ±1.00 D, and ±2.00 D were analyzed. Results: The SD, MAE, and MedAE of the AI-based formulas ranged from 0.37 D (Kane and Jin-AI) to 0.39 D (Hoffer QST), 0.28 D (Hill-RBF 3.0 and Jin-AI) to 0.31 D (Hoffer QST), and 0.21 D (Hill-RBF 3.0 and Jin-AI) to 0.24 D (Hoffer QST), respectively. These values were all lower than those of the third-generation formula (SD: 0.43 D to 0.45 D; MAE: 0.34 D; MedAE: 0.25 D to 0.28 D). Among all the formulas, the Jin-AI formula had the highest proportion of a PE within ±0.50 D (84.73%), followed by Kane (84.35%) and BUⅡ (83.97%) formulas. Conclusion: The new AI-based IOL formulas show higher accuracy compared with the traditional third-generation ones in predicting IOL power. thereby enabling more patients to achieve the expected refractive outcomes after surgery
The retina is a part of the central nervous system. Developmentally, both retina and brain are derived from the neural tube. Therefore, many neurodegenerative diseases that occur in the brain tend to involve both the retina. In the process of neurodegenerative diseases, related characteristic pathological changes, such as pathological protein aggregation, neurovascular unit impairment can often be detected in retinal tissue. In some neurodegenerative diseases, pathological changes in the eye occur even before clinical symptoms appear. In addition, the retina are easy to observe and local treatments are convenient. In recent years, the manifestations of the retina have attracted much attention in the study of pathogenesis, early diagnosis, and new treatments of systemic central neurodegenerative diseases. In this way, this article reviews the ocular pathological changes of common neurodegenerative diseases, aiming to provide new insights into the pathogenesis, diagnosis, and treatment of brain and retinal neurodegenerative diseases.
Clinical drug trials are confronted with two major issues: first, data authenticity, for instance, if any data falsification is conducted during the whole trial; second, whether the standard of procedure is accordingly conducted throughout the whole trial or not. Currently, both domestic and overseas clinical drug trials are not supervised without delay (ex-post inspection). Blockchain technology can improve the efficiency of Food and Drug Administration and the transparency of trials while the rights and safety of human research subjects are guaranteed by the integrated technology such as chained structure, asymmetry key algorithm, hash algorithm, and smart contract. Furthermore, with the assistance of internet of things (IoT) and artificial intelligence (AI), the actual supervision over the whole trial and automatic recruitment of human research subjects are expected to achieve.
Traditional fundus surgery requires ophthalmologists to be equipped with sophisticated operating techniques, but even with the most sophisticated operating techniques, fundus surgery still has great risks. Therefore, in order to reduce the risk of surgery and improve the quality of surgery, it is very necessary to improve the traditional fundus surgery. In recent years, with China’s strong support for the artificial intelligence industry, robots used in various industries have been born. Robot auxiliary system (RAS) is widely used in the medical field, especially in ophthalmology. By summarizing the cases of fundus surgery with RAS in recent years and comparing the fundus surgery involving RAS with traditional fundus surgery, it can be found that the application of RAS in fundus surgery can significantly improve the efficiency of surgery and reduce the risk of surgery. The future development trend of RAS may focus on the close integration with deep learning algorithms, which can predict and optimize the field of view images during surgery so that high-precision fundus surgery can be more efficient and safer.
Objective: To develop a cellular-level, high-resolution, integrated dual-modal full-field optical coherence tomography (FFOCT) system capable of simultaneously imaging the structure and function of limbus tissue. Methods: Utilizing the Linnik interference imaging principle, a high-resolution dual-modal FFOCT system was designed and constructed using a high numerical aperture (NA=0.8) microscope objective and a high-speed flat CMOS camera. A functional imaging reconstruction algorithm based on four-phase modulation structure image extraction and dynamic frequency spectrum analysis of temporal interference signals was developed. The effectiveness of dual-mode FFOCT imaging at various depth layers of human corneal limbal tissue was validated. Results: The constructed dual-modal FFOCT imaging system achieved lateral resolution of 0.5 μ m, axial resolution of 1.7 μ m, imaging field of view of 320 μ m × 320 μ m, and camera acquisition speed of 100 Hz. The system enabled cellular-level resolution three-dimensional structural and intrinsic functional imaging of corneal limbal tissue without exogenous labeling. Static structural FFOCT images clearly displayed limbal epithelium, palisades of Vogt, crypts, stroma, blood vessels, and lymphatic vessels, while dynamic functional FFOCT images highlighted metabolically active cells (limbal epithelial cells, immune cells, etc.). Conclusion: The dual-modal FFOCT high-resolution imaging system provides visualization of corneal limbal microstructural and live cell intrinsic functional information without labeling, offering a novel imaging analysis technique for research and clinical diagnosis and treatment of limbal diseases.
Objective: To investigate the potential bidirectional causal association between osteoarthritis and glaucoma through the application of bidirectional Mendelian randomization (MR). Methods: Instrumental variables were selected in this study based on single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) strongly associated with osteoarthritis and glaucoma, as utilizing genome-wide association studies (GWAS) data. The inverse variance weighting (IVW) method was served as the primary analytical approach, while the weighted median mode, simple plurality and MR-Egger regression methods were employed as complementary methods. Sensitivity analyses were conducted using F-statistic, Cochran Q-test, MR Egger's intercept test, leave-one-out, and multiplicity of residuals and outliers method (MR-PRESSO). The ratio of odds ratios (OR) was adopted as the primary effect estimate, and the strength of association was evaluated by 95% confidence interval (CI) to explore the bidirectional causal relationship between osteoarthritis and glaucoma. Results: The IVW analysis revealed that osteoarthritis elevates the risk of glaucoma with an odds ratio of (OR) of 1.10(95% CI: 1.00-1.20). While the adjunctive methods concurred with this causal direction, their findings did not reach statistical significance. In contrast, the inverse Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis utilizing the inverse variance weighting method demonstrated that glaucoma does not enhance the risk of developing osteoarthritis (OR=1.02, 95% CI: 0.97-1.08). This conclusion was upheld by all four auxiliary methods. The F-statistic values for the selected SNP exceeded 10, indicating the absence of weak instrumental variables. Furthermore, the Cochran Q test, MR-Egger intercept test, and MR- PRESSO analyses revealed no evidence of heterogeneity or horizontal pleiotropy among the SNP. However, the inverse MR analysis displayed heterogeneity in the Cochran Q test, yet no horizontal pleiotropy was detected. The leave-one-out method analysis identified no significant influence of any individual SNP on the overall results. Conclusions: Forward MR analyses indicated that osteoarthritis may serve as a risk factor for glaucoma, indicating a positive correlation between the two conditions. Conversely, reverse MR analysis failed to establish a causal link between glaucoma and osteoarthritis.
Objective: To summarize the genetic variations and clinical features of the MAB21L2 and compare them with the highly homologous MAB21L1 gene. Methods: A genotype -genotype analysis was performed on the patients with MAB21L2 gene variants in the clinical genetic database of Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center, Sun Yat-sen University. A retrospective review was undertaken to analyze the phenotype-genotype correlations of MAB21L2 gene variants and the highly homologous MAB21L1 gene variants reported in the previous literature. Results: Two heterozygous MAB21L2 gene variants were identified in two families with microphthalmia: Proband 1 carried the known variant c.151C>G/p.(Arg51Gly), presenting with bilateral microphthalmia with iris-choroidal coloboma and flexion of joints. The mother carried the same heterozygous variant but had a normal phenotype. Proband 2 carried the unreported variant c.1042G>T/p.(Glu348*), manifesting as left-sided microphthalmia with a normal right eye and no other systemic abnormalities. Through literature review, we found that under a dominant inheritance pattern, 80% of heterozygous pathogenic MAB21L2 variants (20/25) and 100% of heterozygous pathogenic MAB21L1 variants (25/25) occurred in the amino acid region 49-52, resulting in microphthalmia, anophthalmia, and coloboma (MAC). Some patients with heterozygous MAB21L2 variants in this region exhibited additional skeletal and joint dysplasia (12/24, 50%). Heterozygous truncating variants in MAB21L2 led to MAC (5/5, 100%), while those in MAB21L1 were non-pathogenic. Conclusions: This study identified a novel pathogenic variant and a known hotspot pathogenic variant of MAB21L2 in two families with microphthalmia. Through a comprehensive literature review, we compared and summarized the mutation spectrums and genotype-phenotype correlations of MAB21L1 and MAB21L2 genes, providing valuable insights for the diagnosis and differential diagnosis of genetic diseases caused by these gene defects.
Objective: This study aimed to compare the accuracy of six new generation intraocular lenses (IOL) refractive power calculation formulas (Barrett Universal Ⅱ [BU Ⅱ ], Emmetropia Verifying Optical [EVO], Hill-Radial Basis Function [Hill-RBF], Kane, Ladas Super Formula [LSF], T2) and traditional formulas (Haigis, Hoffer Q, Holladay 1, SRK/ T). Methods: The patients who received cataract surgery in the Eye Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University from January 2022 to June 2022 were included in this study. Age, gender, axial length (AL), mean keratometry, anterior chamber depth, IOL constant and power, and postoperative refraction results were collected. The prediction accuracy of these ten IOL power calculation formulas was analyzed, including mean prediction error (ME) and its standard deviation, mean absolute prediction error (MAE), median absolute prediction error (MedAE), maximum absolute prediction error (MaxAE), the percentage of eyes of PE within the range of ±0.25 D, ±0.5 D, ±0.75 D, ±1.0 D (%±0.25 D,%±0.50 D, %±0.75 D, %±1.00 D). Results: 506 eyes of 506 patients were included. Kane has the lowest MAE (0.411).%±0.25 D of Hill-RBF was the highest (40.91%), %±0.50 D or %±0.75 D of EVO was the highest (69.37%, 86.17%), and %±1.00 D of BU Ⅱ and Hill-RBF was the highest (94.07%). There are significant differences in MAE, %±0.50 D, %±0.75 D, and %±1.00 D among all formulas (P<0.05). Still, pairwise comparison only found differences between EVO (86.17%), Hill-RBF (85.97%), Kane (85.57%), and Hoffer Q (81.42%) in %±0.75 D (all P<0.05). In AL subgroup, the MAE of EVO (0.390), Hill-RBF (0.388), T2 (0.423) and Kane (0.393) in long AL group was different from that of Hoffer Q (0.681) and Holladay 1 (0.654) (all P<0.05), the difference of %±0.50D of EVO (74.47%) compared with Hoffer Q (46.81%) (P=0.017). Conclusion: The new generation of IOL power calculation formulas have good accuracy in IOL power prediction, but for eyes with different axial lengths and keratometry, it is necessary to optimize the selection of formulas to improve the prediction accuracy further.
As a new non-invasive and simple subjective examination method, critical flicker fusion frequency (CFF) can dynamically reflect the changes of visual function of human eyes. As a sensitive indicator for early identification of demyelinating diseases and assessment of visual function recovery, it has been used by foreign scholars in the last century in the field of retinal and optic nerve diseases, including chloroquine toxic retinopathy, diabetic retinopathy, central serous retinopathy, age-related macular degeneration, ethambutol-induced optic neuropathy, optic neuritis and non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy. Though there was a different decrease of CFF in retina and optic nerve diseases, it may be helpful for the differentiation of retinal and optic nerve diseases according to the degree of CFF improvement and the main damaged color light. Moreover, CFF has a good correlation with other visual functions, visual acuity, visual field, and peak time of visual evoked potential. At present, and relevant domestic studies is still in its infancy. This article summarizes the application of CFF in retinal and optic nerve diseases.
Artificial intelligence (AI) has been proposed as a potential solution to address the shortage of ophthalmologists in China. With the increasingly extensive application of AI in the field of ophthalmology, many potential patients with eye diseases have access to a higher quality of medical services. At the same time, new challenges will emerge and proliferate with the advancement of AI application. This paper focuses on the patient handoffs process and discusses two challenges brought by the application of AI, namely “communication” and “standardization”. Natural language processing techniques and the development of standardized databases are proposed to solve each of these challenges. The application prospects of AI in ophthalmology are eventually discussed.
