Artificial Intelligence in the Anterior Segment

Ranya Habash, MD

Preeya K. Gupta, MD

This is editorially independent content

4 min read

Join Ranya Habash, MD, and Preeya K. Gupta, MD, to discuss developments in artificial intelligence for anterior segment disease and glaucoma management.

In this installment of Interventional Mindset, Preeya K. Gupta, MD, sits down with Ranya Habash, MD, to discuss the role of artificial intelligence (AI) in anterior segment disease and glaucoma management.

Dr. Habash is a faculty instructor at Bascom Palmer Eye Institute and the Stanford University School of Medicine. She is co-chair of Artificial Intelligence at the American-European Congress of Ophthalmic Surgery (AECOS).

Watch the full interview with Dr. Habash to learn about:

Current and future applications of AI in glaucoma and anterior segment care
AI-powered programs in development that improve efficiency
Recommendations for how physicians can utilize AI-based programs in clinical practice
The role of AI in providing personalized care to patients

How can AI be implemented in glaucoma care?

To start, Dr. Habash noted that AI is not a novel development in ophthalmology, as technologies like visual field analysis have utilized AI-based programs to predict glaucomatous progression for many years.¹

She added that advancements in these algorithms could allow physicians to factor detailed analyses of retinal images, corneal topography, optical coherence tomography (OCT), and OCT angiography (OCTA) into clinical decisions—leveraging AI algorithms to identify minuscule changes not detectable to the human eye.

Further, this technology could eventually evolve into long-term trend analyses of patients to evaluate whether their condition is worsening over time and to stop progression before damage is done.

Rolling out AI-based tools in clinical practice

Medical scribes can significantly improve physician efficiency; however, budgetary constraints can make access difficult, noted Dr. Habash. Consequently, ambient AI scribes have been developed to use machine learning and natural-language processing to summarize the clinical content from patient conversations and produce a clinical note documenting the visit.²

She explained that these programs can also develop referral letters and educational tools tailored to a patient’s native language and reading level. She added that last year, Microsoft expanded a strategic collaboration with Epic to develop and integrate generative AI into healthcare by combining Azure OpenAI with Epic’s electronic health record (EHR) software.³

This partnership opens the door for new services that could improve physician efficiency, such as inbox management, pre-filled responses to simple patient questions, and prior authorization appeals.

However, Dr. Habash emphasized the importance of physicians always reviewing AI-generated content before sending it to patients.

For surgeons interested in using AI-powered technology, Dr. Habash recommended only using programs coupled with an EHR system to protect the patient’s privacy and remain HIPAA compliant.

The promise of precision medicine in ophthalmology

Precision medicine is an innovative approach to healthcare that holistically evaluates patients based on clinical, genetic, environmental, and lifestyle factors to develop tailored recommendations for disease prevention and treatments.⁴

Using glaucoma, intraocular lenses (IOLs), and keratoconus as examples, Dr. Habash described how AI-powered tools could evaluate volumes of data to determine the predictive outcomes of specific treatments for a patient in order to reduce wasted time and money on unsuccessful therapies while expediting the best treatment course

Conclusion

As ophthalmology is at the forefront of adopting AI into medical research and clinical practice, it is an exciting time to see the development of tools that benefit both patients and physicians, noted Dr. Habash.

To hear more about AI programs in development, watch the full interview with Dr. Habash!

References

Wang M, Shen LQ, Pasquale LR, et al. An Artificial Intelligence Approach to Detect Visual Field Progression in Glaucoma Based on Spatial Pattern Analysis. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2019;60(1):365-375. Doi: 10.1167/iovs.18-25568
Robeznieks A. AI Scribe Saves Doctors An Hour At The Keyboard Every Day. American Medical Association. Published March 18, 2024. Accessed August 22, 2024. https://www.ama-assn.org/practice-management/digital/ai-scribe-saves-doctors-hour-keyboard-every-day.
Microsoft and Epic Expand Strategic Collaboration with Integration of Azure OpenAI Service. Epic. Published April 17, 2023. Accessed August 22, 2024. https://www.epic.com/epic/post/microsoft-and-epic-expand-strategic-collaboration-with-integration-of-azure-openai-service/.
Precision Medicine. US Food and Drug Administration. Accessed August 22, 2024. https://www.fda.gov/medical-devices/in-vitro-diagnostics/precision-medicine.

About Ranya Habash, MD

Ranya Habash, MD, is a faculty instructor at the Stanford University School of Medicine and the CEO of LifeLong Vision Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC). She was recently appointed Chair of Artificial Intelligence at the American-European Congress of Ophthalmic Surgery (AECOS).

Dr. Habash received her Doctor of Medicine from West Virginia University and pursued her ophthalmology residency at Texas Tech University. Subsequently, she joined the faculty at the Bascome Palmer Eye Institute, where she was the Medical Director of Technology Innovation. Later, she also joined the Stanford University School of Medicine faculty and received a Master of Clinical Informatics Management from there.

Combining her unique clinical, tech, and product backgrounds, Habash joined Microsoft’s healthcare team to lead a global machine learning project between Microsoft and Bascom Palmer, delivering a multi-disease retinal algorithm to automate diagnosis and treatment of eye conditions.

As program manager for Microsoft, she worked to build a global collaborative network for data sharing and digital health collaboration. Her latest research focuses on brain-computer interface technology for the diagnosis and treatment of multiple ophthalmic and neurologic conditions. These extraordinary experiences fuel her strategy for LifeLong Vision SPAC and the impact she hopes to make on healthcare.

More by Ranya Habash, MD

About Preeya K. Gupta, MD

Dr. Gupta earned her medical degree at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, and graduated with Alpha Omega Alpha honors. She fulfilled her residency in ophthalmology at Duke University Eye Center in Durham, North Carolina, where she earned the K. Alexander Dastgheib Surgical Excellence Award, and then completed a fellowship in Cornea and Refractive Surgery at Minnesota Eye Consultants in Minneapolis. She served on the faculty at Duke University Eye Center in Durham, North Carolina as a Tenured Associate Professor of Ophthalmology from 2011-2021.

Dr. Gupta has authored many articles in the peer-reviewed literature and serves as an invited reviewer to journals such as Ophthalmology, American Journal of Ophthalmology, and Journal of Refractive Surgery. She has also written several book chapters about corneal disease and ophthalmic surgery, as well as served as an editor of the well-known series, Curbside Consultation in Cataract Surgery. She also holds several editorial board positions.

Dr. Gupta serves as an elected member of the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery (ASCRS) Refractive Surgery clinical committee, and is also is the Past-President of the Vanguard Ophthalmology Society. She gives presentations both nationally and internationally, and has been awarded the National Millennial Eye Outstanding Female in Ophthalmology Award, American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) Achievement Award, and selected to the Ophthalmologist Power List.

More by Preeya K. Gupta, MD

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