This study, conducted in Bangladesh, demonstrates the potential of autonomous AI to increase access to essential services and reduce health inequities, including in low- and middle-income countries with shortages of qualified specialists .
Bangladesh-based Orbis International, Digital Diagnostics and Deep Eye Care Foundation announced new findings demonstrating that autonomous AI significantly improves the productivity of healthcare workers testing for diabetic eye diseases by 40%.
The peer-reviewed randomized controlled study, published in Nature, is the first to explore how autonomous AI can improve the productivity of healthcare professionals globally, allowing them to see more patients while giving priority to those who need their care and expertise.
This study, conducted in Bangladesh, demonstrates the potential of autonomous AI to increase access to essential services and reduce health inequities, including in low- and middle-income countries with shortages of qualified specialists .
“An estimated one billion people around the world do not have access to essential health services,” said Dr Munir Ahmed, country director of Orbis Bangladesh.
“This disparity hinders global economic growth and perpetuates the widening poverty gap. One way to solve this problem is to increase efficiency and productivity through technology. This study shows that autonomous AI can make decisions “Autonomous AI does not replace a doctor; rather, it is a tool to better streamline the clinical process.”
“Years ago, I had a vision of the impact autonomous AI would have on healthcare, but I quickly discovered that vision, validation, and commercial adoption are very different things said Dr. Michael Abramoff, the study’s principal investigator and founder. and Executive Chairman of Digital Diagnostics.
“Over time, I realized the importance of gaining acceptance for autonomous AI among all stakeholders so that it is widely deployed and can impact patients. We now have strong scientific evidence that autonomous AI not only improves the bottom line but, as this study shows, also improves productivity. Seeing my initial vision fully realized through our partnership with Orbis International and Deep Eye Care Foundation using LumineticsCore is validation of everything we have worked on. We are excited to extend this collaboration to Bangladesh and other countries.
This randomized controlled trial took place at Deep Eye Care Foundation’s specialist retina clinics in Rangpur, Bangladesh, for five months in 2022.
It included more than 2,000 patients randomized to an intervention group or a control group. Patients in the control group went to the specialist regardless of the results of the autonomous AI.
Patients in the intervention group did not see a specialist during their visit if the autonomous AI did not detect signs of diabetic eye disease and were asked to return in 12 months; patients only saw a specialist if the autonomous AI detected diabetic eye disease and additional treatment was needed. Results showed that autonomous AI led to a 40% increase in the number of patients who completed a high-quality eye exam per hour.
The increased productivity of healthcare professionals demonstrated during the trial resulted in several benefits. Importantly, specialists reported that using autonomous AI allowed them to focus their time on more complex cases requiring treatment or requiring their specialized knowledge.
This also meant that patients with simpler cases were seen more quickly since patients were allowed to leave the clinic after a stand-alone AI exam and did not wait to see a specialist. Patients allowed to leave also reported high satisfaction with the AI self-testing process because they saved time. This is particularly important because clinic wait times are a major concern for patients in resource-constrained areas, who often cannot afford time away from home and work responsibilities.
“This is a great opportunity for the Deep Eye Care Foundation to participate in this cutting-edge study, which proves the transformative potential of autonomous AI in healthcare,” said Dr. Khairul Islam, Executive Director of the Deep Eye Care Foundation.
“This study represents a significant advancement in eye care for low- and middle-income countries, where the lack of qualified healthcare professionals and facilities remains a barrier. These challenges can be overcome through the integration of autonomous AI, which increases the efficiency and productivity of our doctors and thus helps us reach more patients by providing them with timely eye care.
Digital Diagnostics’ autonomous AI system used in the study provides medical diagnostics without human supervision and has been shown to be more accurate in detecting diabetic eye diseases than human specialists i, ii, iii. The autonomous AI system was approved by FDA De Novo in 2018 and validated for safety, effectiveness, and freedom from racial, ethnic, and gender bias in a trial of diabetic adults at risk for diabetic eye disease iv .
Orbis, Digital Diagnostics and Deep Eye Care in Bangladesh share a common mission: to close the global healthcare inequity gap by providing accessible, high-quality healthcare. Increasing the productivity of the limited cohort of health workers in low- and middle-income countries is critical to addressing global health disparities.
More productive doctors can see and treat more patients who actually need their services, directly reducing the number of people going without care.
