Breakthrough results from AI study involving WY ophthalmologists

An article published in Nature Medicine presents groundbreaking findings on the application of artificial intelligence in ophthalmology through the development and validation of EyeFM, a multimodal model designed to assist doctors in the diagnosis and treatment of ophthalmic patients.

EyeFM was trained on a huge collection of 14.5 million ophthalmic images and 400,000 clinical texts from international and multi-ethnic databases.

The research team conducted a multi-stage validation including a retrospective analysis, studies involving ophthalmologists from different continents, and a randomized, double-masked, clinical trial involving 668 patients and 16 doctors. The results showed a clear advantage of working with EyeFM: the accuracy of diagnosis increased from 75.4 percent to 92.2 percent, and the correctness of the decision to refer the patient for further treatment increased from 80.5 percent to 92.2 percent. In addition, doctors using the model prepared more standardized reports, and patients were more likely to follow recommendations for further treatment and self-monitoring. Importantly, EyeFM enabled more effective use of cheaper and more widely available imaging tests in situations where costly techniques (e.g., Optical Coherent Tomography) were usually required, opening up new diagnostic possibilities in resource-limited countries.

- The study is an important step toward clinical translation of AI models, demonstrating that artificial intelligence can realistically support ophthalmologists, increasing the precision and efficiency of their work and improving patients' health outcomes, says ŚUM Professor Adrian Smędowski, co-author of the paper, who is a renowned Polish ophthalmologist and researcher specializing in the diagnosis and treatment of glaucoma and hereditary retinal diseases.

Prof. Smędowski heads a research team at the Department of Ophthalmology of the Faculty of Medical Sciences in Katowice at the Silesian Medical University in Katowice, conducting translational scientific projects linking basic biological research with clinical practice. His participation in an international research consortium highlights the growing role of Polish scientists in global medical innovation. "Nature Medicine" is one of the most prestigious scientific journals in the world, part of the "Nature" group. The journal focuses on translational research that combines basic science with clinical practice, publishing papers of the highest scientific value. With a 5-year Impact Factor of 52.4 in 2024, "Nature Medicine" is among the world's top medical and biological journals. - Publication in this title is a confirmation of the quality of the research and its importance to the global medical and scientific community," adds Prof. Smędowski.

Citation: Wu Y, Qian B, Li T, Qin Y, Guan Z, Chen T, Jia Y, Zhang P, Zeng D, Moroi S, Raman R, Thinggaard BS, Pedersen F, Ñehe JAO, Kamalden TA, Zhou Y, Jin Y, Li H, Ran AR, Yang D, Meng Z, Peng Q, Zheng YF, Wang D, Ji H, Zang P, Yin C, Shen J, Chen Y, Yu W, Dai R, Zhang C, Zhao X, Wang X, Chen Y, Wu Q, Xie H, Szeto SKH, Chan JYY, Chan VTT, Xie HT, Wei R, Li J, Ma W, Zhu L, Wang H, Fu H, Wang W, Lin S, Xu Z, Guan N, Zhang X, Grzybowski A, Gołębiowska-Bogaj M, Gawęcki M, Smedowski A, Szaraniec W, Wu Y, Wen Y, Chen X, Yao Y; EyeFM Global Reader Study Team; Lim LL, Cheung CY, Tan GSW, Grauslund J, Ruamviboonsuk P, Sivaprasad S, Keane PA, Wang YX, Tham YC, Cheng CY, Wong TY, Sheng B. An eyecare foundation model for clinical assistance: a randomized controlled trial. Nat Med.

2025 Aug 28. doi: 10.1038/s41591-025-03900-7. epub ahead of print. PMID:

40877476.

Link to work: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-025-03900-7

Source: Silesian Medical University