Annual Eye Exams including screening for Diabetic Retinopathy by Eye Care Professionals are Important.

In April 2018,  Digital Diagnostics  became the first company to ever receive FDA clearance for an AI diagnostic platform that makes a diagnosis without physician input at the point-of-care.

This achievement did not happen overnight – it was the culmination of decades of research by founder Dr. Michael Abramoff on automated image analysis, combined with decades of research on how clinicians diagnose disease.

Working With – Not Against – the Healthcare System

Since then, Digital Diagnostics has diligently worked from within the healthcare system to establish automated diagnosis as the new standard of care. From real-world clinic launch & EMR integration, to the creation of the first ever autonomous AI CPT® category 1 code for billing and payment, to inclusion in the American Diabetes Association (ADA)’s 2020 Standards of Care in Diabetes, Digital Diagnostics has proven that intelligent diagnostic platforms can be deployed safely and responsibly to improve patient outcomes and increase healthcare productivity.

Digital Diagnostics’ first FDA-cleared product is the AI diagnostic platform Dr. Abramoff had envisioned years earlier. The platform, called LumineticsCore™ (formerly IDx-DR), detects diabetic retinopathy (including macular edema) at the point-of-care. After completing a rigorous prospective, preregistered clinical trial at primary care sites across the country, LumineticsCore became the first FDA-cleared AI diagnostic system to make a diagnosis without physician input at the point-of-care.

Digital Diagnostics is in use at over 20 health systems and our AI Cameras have tested thousands of patients and identified hundreds of patients with disease who were previously undiagnosed.

Diabetic Retinopathy

Diabetes is a disease that affects blood vessels throughout the body, particularly vessels in the kidneys and eyes. When the blood vessels in the eyes are affected, this is called diabetic retinopathy. The retina is in the back of the eye. It detects visual images and transmits them to the brain. Major blood vessels lie on the front portion of the retina. When these blood vessels are damaged due to diabetes, they may leak fluid or blood and grow scar tissue. This leakage affects the ability of the retina to detect and transmit images. During the early stages of diabetic retinopathy, reading vision is typically not affected. However, when retinopathy becomes advanced, new blood vessels grow in the retina. These new vessels are the body’s attempt to overcome and replace the vessels that have been damaged by diabetes. However, these new vessels are not normal. They may bleed and cause the vision to become hazy, occasionally resulting in a complete loss of vision. The growth of abnormal blood vessels on the iris of the eye can lead to  glaucoma . Diabetic retinopathy can also cause your body to form   cataracts .

The new vessels also may damage the retina by forming scar tissue and pulling the retina away from its proper location. This is called retinal detachment and can lead to blindness if left untreated.

Symptoms of diabetic retinopathy:

• There are usually no symptoms in the early stages of diabetic retinopathy
• Floaters
• Difficulty reading or doing close work
• Double vision
• If left untreated, severe vision loss can occur

Causes of diabetic retinopathy:

• Diabetes: Everyone who has diabetes is at risk for developing diabetic retinopathy, but not everyone develops it. Changes in blood sugar levels increase the risk. Generally, diabetics don’t develop diabetic retinopathy until they’ve had diabetes for at least 10 years.

Reduce your risk of developing diabetic retinopathy by:

• keeping your blood sugar under control.
• monitoring your blood pressure.
• maintaining a healthy diet.
• exercising regularly.
• getting an eye exam at least once a year.

Diagnosing diabetic retinopathy:

There are usually no symptoms in the early stages of diabetic retinopathy. Vision may not change until the disease becomes severe. An exam is often the only way to diagnose changes in the vessels of your eyes. This is why regular examinations for people with diabetes are extremely important.
Your eye doctor may perform a test called fluorescein angiography. During the test, a harmless orange-red dye called Fluorescein will be injected into a vein in your arm. The dye will travel through your body to the blood vessels in your retina. Your doctor will use a special camera with a green filter to flash a blue light into your eye and take multiple photographs. The pictures will be analyzed to identify any damage to the lining of the retina or atypical new blood vessels.

Some of the treatment for diabetic retinopathy:

Diabetic retinopathy does not usually impair sight until the development of long-term complications, including proliferative retinopathy (when abnormal new blood vessels bleed into the eye). When this advanced stage of retinopathy occurs, pan-retinal photocoagulation  is performed. During this procedure, a laser is used to destroy all of the dead areas of retina where blood vessels have been closed. When these areas are treated with the laser, the retina stops manufacturing new blood vessels, and those that are already present tend to decrease or disappear.
If diabetic retinopathy has caused your body to form cataracts, they can be corrected with  cataract surgery.

Vision loss due to Diabetic Retinopathy can be prevented.

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