A collaborative study between the Singapore National Eye Centre, Singapore Eye Research Institute, National University of Singapore School of Computing as well as eye centres from America, Australia, China, Hong Kong and Mexico, is employing Artificial Intelligence (AI) for treating eye diseases.

The AI system is expected to detect three major eye diseases with greater speed and accuracy than existing tests, resulting in manpower and cost savings.

It uses a machine learning technology that can be programmed to classify images of the retina into those with and without these eye diseases - diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma and age-related macular degeneration.

More than 400,000 Singaporeans have diabetes, and one in three of them also have diabetic retinopathy. With the number of diabetics in Singapore projected to reach a million by 2050, as many as 200,000 patients may have to be screened for diabetic eye diseases in future, double the 100,000 screened this year.