As part of a study released in Progress in Retinal and Eye Research, 113 patients were examined using Detection of Apoptosis in Retinal Cells (DARC) to detect areas of the eye indicative of the retinal disease geographic atrophy. The study was conducted by experts at Imperial College London. "DARC (Detection of Apoptosing Retinal Cells) is a retinal imaging technology that has been developed within the last 2 decades from basic laboratory science to Phase 2 clinical trials," according to the findings. "It uses ANX776 (fluorescently labelled Annexin A5) to identify stressed and apoptotic cells in the living eye. During its development, DARC has undergone biochemistry optimisation, scale-up and GMP manufacture and extensive preclinical evaluation."

A new eye test that uses artificial intelligence AI to study retina scans can predict age-related macular degeneration (AMD) three years before symptoms start. The first part of the'pioneering' test, developed by researchers at University College London, is called DARC. DARC involves injecting dye into a person's bloodstream to illuminate'stressed' endothelial cells in the retina, so they appear bright white under a fluorescent camera. These'stressed' retinal cells could lead to abnormalities and later leaking blood vessels – causing AMD, which can severely compromise the central field of vision. The second part of the test uses an AI algorithm, trained to detect whether the highlighted white spots are around the macula – which indicates high AMD risk.

"The eyes are the window to the soul," the adage goes, but these days our eyes could be better compared to our ethernet connection to the world. According to a 2006 study conducted by the University of Pennsylvania, the human retina is capable of transmitting 10 million bits of information per second. But for as potent as our visual capabilities are, there's a whole lot that can go wrong with the human eye. Cataracts, glaucoma and age-related macular degeneration (AMD) are three of the leading causes of blindness the world over. Though we may not have robotic ocular prosthetics just yet, a number of recent ophthalmological advancements will help keep the blinds over those windows from being lowered.