One million anonymised eye scans from Moorfields Eye Hospital will be used to train an artificial intelligence (AI) system from Google. Machine learning algorithms will scour the images for signs of diseases such as macular degeneration and diabetes-related sight loss. Moorfields is teaming up with Google's AI division DeepMind during the scheme. Previously, DeepMind faced criticism over a little-known data sharing agreement with three London hospitals. An agreement to share patient data from the Royal Free, Barnet and Chase Farm hospitals over the past five years and continuing until 2017 was revealed by the New Scientist in May. In that case, Google said it was analysing kidney data in the hope of developing an app for medical staff.

Every week, Moorfields Eye Hospital in London performs 3,000 optical coherence tomography scans to diagnose vision problems. The scans, which use scattered light to create high-resolution 3-D images of the retina, produce large quantities of data. Analyzing that data is a slow process. Understanding the images requires trained and experienced human eyes to identify problems specific to each case, leaving little or no time to identify broader, population-wide trends that could make early detection easier. That's just the kind of task that artificial intelligence can be used to tackle, though.

Google's partnered with the NHS' Moorfields eye-hospital in London to apply its DeepMind AI to help identify eye diseases earlier. Google's machine learning division could help curb the number of people suffering from sight loss in the UK, but it's not the first time DeepMind has been applied to healthcare; an app called Hark, acquired by Google, has been working on a pre-warning system for NHS staff to alert them to patients at risk of deterioration or death as the result of kidney failure.

Every week, Moorfields Eye Hospital in London performs 3,000 optical coherence tomography scans to diagnose vision problems. The scans, which use scattered light to create high-resolution 3D images of the retina, produce large quantities of data, and its analysis is slow. Understanding the images requires trained and experienced human eyes to identify problems specific to each case, leaving little or no time to identify broader, population-wide trends that could make early detection easier. That's just the kind of task that artificial intelligence can be used to tackle, though. So it's perhaps not surprising that Google's AI wing, DeepMind, has decided to partner with the hospital to apply machine learning to the problem as part of its Health program.

Google's AI unit is getting access to a set of 1 million anonymized eye scans with the aim of improving the detection and prevention of common eye diseases.

Fresh off a stunning victory in a nearly-impossible-to-master board game, Google's DeepMind artificial intelligence project is bringing its brainpower to the humble eye scan. Google, which acquired British startup DeepMind in 2014, is partnering with the UK's state-run National Health Service. The mission: to create a system whereby sight-threatening conditions can be diagnosed from just a single scan of the eye, the company said Tuesday. Together, these diseases affect more than 100 million people worldwide, according to Google. Google will investigate how DeepMind's technology can be taught to analyze scans for the two diseases --the diagnoses of which have been time-consuming efforts for eye doctors due to their complexity.

Google's DeepMind division has announced a partnership with the NHS's Moorfields Eye Hospital to apply machine learning to spot common eye diseases earlier. The five-year research project will draw on one million anonymous eye scans which are held on Moorfields' patient database, with the aim to speed up the complex and time-consuming process of analysing eye scans. The hope is that this will allow diagnoses of common causes of sight loss, like diabetic retinopathy and age-related macular degeneration, to be spotted more rapidly and hence be treated more effectively. For example, Google says that up to 98 percent of sight loss resulting from diabetes can be prevented by early detection and treatment. Mobile app called "Streams" provides medical staff with latest clinical information.

Google and the U.K.'s government health service have partnered to study whether computers can be trained to spot degenerative eye problems early enough to prevent blindness. Google DeepMind, the London-based artificial intelligence unit owned by Alphabet Inc., announced a research partnership today with the National Health Service to gain access to a million anonymous eye scans. DeepMind will use the data to train its computers to identify eye defects. The aim is to give doctors a digital tool that can read an eye-scan test and recognize problems faster. Earlier detection of eye disorders related to diabetes and age-related macular degeneration could allow doctors to prevent loss of vision in many people, according to a statement by DeepMind Tuesday announcing the project with the Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.

Diabetes can result in a common complication--known as diabetic retinopathy--that damages the back of the eye, known as the retina. The chronic disease can cause vision loss if left untreated. But, if caught early, patients can significantly reduce the risk of blindness. Google's DeepMind, which specializes in artificial intelligence, is partnering with Britain's National Health Service (NHS) to do just that. The NHS is Britain's publicly funded healthcare system--free to use, treating a million patients every 36 hours, and consisting of one of the largest workforces in the world.

Google DeepMind has announced a brand new research project in partnership with the NHS. The collaboration will see Google's artificial intelligence division working with London's Moorfields Eye Hospital to develop a machine learning system that will detect the early signs of degenerative eye conditions which humans might miss. Though this is the second project DeepMind is embarking on with the NHS, it's the first time the company has used machine learning in purely medical research and DeepMind co-founder Mustafa Suleyman says he thinks "one day this work will be a great benefit to patients across the NHS." Moorfields says that analysing complex eye scans is a time consuming process and traditional analysis tools have been unable to explore them fully. It hopes the research with DeepMind will lead to earlier detection and more effective treatment for patients and ultimately help to avoid cases of preventable eye disease.