Microsoft India, and the L. V. Prasad Eye Institute, a not-for-profit comprehensive eye care institution in Hyderabad, India, have launched the Microsoft Intelligent Network for Eyecare (MINE), a machine learning network that will help doctors in India fight eye disease and reduce the risk of avoidable blindness.
Silicon ANGLE reports that Microsoft’s new AI network combines eye care data and research from a consortium of eye health institutes from around the world, including Bascom Palmer at the University of Miami, Flaum Eye Institute at the University of Rochester, the Federal University of Sao Paulo and the Brien Holden Vision Institute, Australia. Some of this data includes information specific to eye health in children, such as the rate of change of myopia in children and the conditions that impact children’s eyesight. Microsoft also hopes that MINE will be able to generate predictive models for eye surgery, allowing doctors to personalize treatment for each patient to maximize the chance for success.
Globally, 285 million people are visually impaired; 55 million of them live in India. “At L.V. Prasad Eye Institute, we have been using Microsoft Azure Machine Learning and Power BI to drive clinical interventions and improve patient outcomes,” said Dr. G.N.Rao, the eye institute’s founder-chair.
