The conference, dedicated to applications of artificial intelligence (AI) in ophthalmology, was attended by ophthalmologists from hospitals throughout Israel. It was organized by the Ophthalmology Department at Hillel Yaffe as part of an ongoing research collaboration with researchers from the Artificial Intelligence in Medicine Laboratory at the Technion's Faculty of Biomedical Engineering (AIM Lab). This strategic collaboration between the institutions has already led to the establishment of a joint laboratory at Hillel Yaffe's Eye Institute just six months ago. The laboratory focuses on developing and implementing AI tools for medical diagnosis of eye diseases.
“This is one of the most important areas in medicine - using AI tools to promote rapid and accurate diagnosis of diseases," explained Dr. Eran Berkowitz, Director of the Glaucoma Service in the Ophthalmology Department at Hillel Yaffe and Director of the AEye Laboratory. “The main goal of the conference was to foster collaboration among researchers, physicians and engineers from the Technion and hospitals around the country, as well as to hear about current research that has been conducted and published in the field of diagnosis of eye diseases using eye images and AI to interpret them. These are studies conducted jointly by multiple hospitals in Israel, together with the laboratories at the Technion and the hospital, and that’s their strength. Such collaboration forms the foundation for maintaining excellence in care."
Conference of the Ophthalmology Department at Hillel Yaffe Medical Center and the Technion's Faculty of Biomedical Engineering – Medicine Combined with Artificial Intelligence
Prof. Joachim Behar, Director of the AIMLab at the Faculty of Biomedical Engineering at the Technion, said, “The need to join forces is extremely important, because the true strength of AI in medicine is its ability to train algorithms on large and diverse datasets. We're delighted with the existing collaboration between us and Hillel Yaffe."
Dr. Beactrice Tiosana, Ophthalmology Department Director at Hillel Yaffe, stated, “The use of AI has the potential to bring about a true revolution and improve the quality of medicine. Artificial intelligence can respond to the growing needs of an aging population. The foundation for success is collaboration. Our hope is that by strengthening collaboration among hospitals, we can take our diagnostic ability to the next level and enable the development of tools that will assist in the early diagnosis of common eye diseases, such as glaucoma, age-related macular degeneration (AMD), diabetic retinopathy and more. The concept is to establish a national database that all everyone involved can use efficiently.”
During the conference, various studies conducted by the laboratories on the effectiveness of using AI to diagnose common and vision-threatening eye diseases, such as glaucoma, AMD and retinopathy were presented. Additionally, studies were presented on identifying cardiovascular diseases through retinal imaging and on diagnosing additional diseases and retinal damage, all using AI-based tools.
The conference also included discussions about future joint projects and challenges in applying this innovative technology. At the conclusion, participants scheduled another conference to be held next year to continue these meetings that foster genuine collaboration between physicians in the fields of ophthalmology and artificial intelligence.
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