Patient-centred smartphone AI for protecting vision in macular disease

OKKO Health is a software medical device company developing companion apps for people with chronic eye disease. The app consists of short games which use vision science technology to measure visual function through the data produced.

This project is to develop an AI product to identify the very early visual symptoms indicative of either development or worsening of macular disease by using smartphone data only, so that vision assessment and monitoring can be shifted from the hospital to the home and so that in-person appointments with hospital eye specialists can be prioritised for those who need them.

This will enable personalised eye care; leading to more efficient use of limited highly pressurised resources and optimise vision outcomes for patients through early and prioritised treatment (currently, 50% of UK blindness is avoidable with early treatment).

OKKO's core work has been highly innovative, because unlike others, they do not simply replicate the eye chart onto a phone screen. This is because the eye chart was designed for prescribing accurate glasses, and it is very poor at picking up early eye disease, or monitoring progression of eye disease. Instead, OKKO's team translate aspects of established vision science currently contained in expensive equipment into accessible, straightforward puzzle games on a smartphone/tablet so that hospital-grade measurements can be gained at home.

This project will use real-world smartphone data to create the AI algorithm trained by high-quality clinical decisions from the doctors in Nottingham and Oxford NHS and international sites.

We will work with the University of Bristol and the Macular Society charity to make the smartphone AI's interface with patients user-friendly and meaningful.