The focus of the research is with the application of deep-learning methods to produce an automated algorithm designed to detect diabetic retinopathy from the scanning of images of the eye. The technology is a type of'deep learning'. Deep Learning is a new area of machine learning research, which has been introduced with the objective of moving Machine Learning closer to one of its original goals: 'true' Artificial Intelligence. The algorithm is based on more than 75,000 images, taken from the back of the eye, and relating to a wide range of patients representing several ethnicities. The images included a mix of health patients and those with the condition.

India is home to the world's largest population of blind people and not nearly enough optometrists to provide the care the country needs. But recently, some doctors there have been receiving help in the fight against eye disease from an unexpected source. As Mashable reports, machine learning is being used to better understand the spread of blindness and predict the success rates of eye surgeries. The initiative is part of a collaboration between Microsoft and the Indian not-for-profit LV Prasad Eye Institute (LVPEI). At the center of the project are their Azure machine learning and Power BI services: After analyzing the anonymous records of 1.1 million people, the AI system can trace patterns of eye disease.